Jason X vs The Thing: A Learning Experience
by Nitebreaker
Summary: It's been over four hundred years since Jason was free to wreck his justice on the guilty, but something else has been waiting patiently all this time, too. An AU for what might be... Various characters in the "Jason X" universe, plus a few. Now complete.
1. Chapter 1

Jason X vs. The Thing

Chapter 1: Departure

…

 _Okay, people. This is an idea that occurred to me and, as usual with such ideas, wouldn't let me alone until I did something with it. So I'll have to see how it goes myself._

 _If I deviate from the "Jason X" storyline, some of that is intentional, as you'll see. Call this an AU, if you just have to._

 _I don't own the "Friday the Thirteenth" or "The Thing," franchises._

… _._

"… _it come from some place whar things ain't as they is here… one o' them professors said so… he was right…"_

 _-"The Colour Out Of Space," by H. P. Lovecraft._

… _._

 _Earth, Antarctica, 1982: MacReady sat alone in a cold, cold room. It would soon get a lot colder, he knew. Already, ice crystals had formed on and in his beard._

 _So be it. If his death would keep the monster away from the lands of men, it would be well worth his sacri-*_

 _The door opened suddenly, and MacReady's frost-covered eyes widened as he saw the figure step lithely into the room. It tossed the heavy implement it was carrying into the corner. "I believe I've done all I can," it said._

" _You!" MacReady exclaimed, his voice already cracking from the ice crystals forming in his throat. "I should've known!"_

" _You should've. But it's a little late now."_

" _No, it's not." With a strength and speed born of a desperation that mere fear of death could never fuel, he pulled out a small automatic from inside his coat._

 _The figure sounded amused. "Surely you don't think_ _that_ _will stop me."_

" _It's not for you." And MacReady put the barrel of the automatic to his temple…._

… _._

 _Deep space, 2455:_

"Ah, professor, so good to see you." Professor Lowe gushed. Professor Jonathon Stein had been one of his college mentors. "Dr. LaFontaine's here too, or will be shortly." Professor Jonathon Stein, a tall man of indeterminate age, with a long face, "noticeable" eyebrows, and hair more grey than otherwise, seemed to wear a perpetually bemused expression, as though he'd just put his keys down, and now couldn't find them. "And, of course, the subject…but that's another matter." Professor Stein had just recently joined the crew of the _Grendel_ , as they traveled the spaceways, on their way to their next destination. "I'll introduce you the rest of the crew after a bit. Would you like the chance to freshen up?"

"I believe I would," replied Stein. "It has been a long trip." The shuttle that had brought him had made landfall on the ruins of Earth, the ancient manhome. Its ecology had been wrecked by mankind's greed and lack of foresight, and frequently scientists went there to study the shattered ecology left behind. Stein's shuttle had taken a long way around. "But perhaps I could take a moment to meet with your students. You say the subject is here, too?"

He turned and led him off down the corridor. "Yes, most assuredly. We stopped by the Crystal Lake facility specifically to retrieve the…well, I'm not exactly sure what you'd call it. It's a body, to be sure. But dead? Well, yes and no. One of our own, Rowan LaFontaine, sacrificed her own life to stop it, cryogenically freezing them both. We'll thaw her out shortly. But for now… You know, we tried to kill him—excuse me, to kill _it_ —but nothing worked. So we're taking the body to Cetus Four for study."

Stein fell in behind him, shifting his duffle bag over his shoulder. Braithewaite could hear rustling sounds coming from within as he shifted it, and smiled to himself. Knowing the Prof like he did, he'd probably packed a change of underwear, and couple pairs of socks—and about a metric ton of books. And this was not counting e-readers. "So…nothing worked? At all?"

"Nothing. The only thing that came closest was to immerse the body in a water solution, heavily bound, of course. After a while, the creature's struggles began to die down.

"But I'd like to stress that this in no way indicated any sort of physical death, as such. It was as though the creature simply…felt at home there, in the water. One of our younger scientists wondered if there's a connection between sensory deprivation and the creature's 'dormant' mode."

"A distinct possibility. Though it's not my specialty, I'd be interested in reviewing those results, if I may." They turned a corner into the main rec area, where most of the crew were already gathered.

"Ah, Professor Stein. Here's our crew, my students. People, this is Professor Stein. He was one of my instructors at the university…and a good friend. Professor, this is Tsunaron, Janessa, Azrael, Jaxon, Kinsa, Waylander, Stony, Adrienne, and Andrea. And this," he turned to a startlingly beautiful woman standing beside the others, "is KM-14. She's an android, and my personal assistant. I couldn't ask for a better adjunct." The android designated "KM-14" seemed to puff up a little at the praise.

"Ah," said Stein, "I'm glad to meet all of you. And, you're an android, you say? I must say, whoever designed and built you did superb work. If Professor Lowe had not said anything, I would never have known you were anything other than the extremely lovely young woman you appear to be." There was clear sincerity in his voice. He was not trying to flatter KM.

"Thank you, Professor Stein. I can't take credit for my design, of course, but I appreciate your praise."

"Please, all of you. Simply call me Jon, or Jonathon. I'm technically on vacation, at least until we reach Cetus Four. So we can be informal. Is this all of your crew, Professor Lowe?"

"There's a couple of others. Oh, and the subject…you said you wanted to see it? It's right this way." He led the professor and KM down the corridor to a specially prepared room. Inside was a slab holding a hulking form covered in rags of clothing and wearing a hockey mask. Stein noted that the figure, though exhibiting no life signs, was nonetheless bound to the slab. _Hm. Grim experience, perhaps?_ "We call this the 'morgue,' but to be honest, I'm not sure how to classify our star attraction. He has no vital signs whatsoever, but nonetheless his tissues regenerate. How this happens with no significant blood flow is just another mystery. Ah, here's one of my other students, Mary." The young woman in question turned from her examination to face them.

Like KM, she was startlingly attractive, a young woman of about twenty-five bio years, with dark brown hair cut in a bob just below her narrow pointed chin. Her eyes were large and dark, and seemed, to Stein's eyes, to be tired. _Why?_ "Mary, here, has sort of 'adopted' the subject, whom we call 'Jason.' There's an old Earth legend about a similar creature that couldn't be killed. Well, here we have something very similar. Strikingly so, in fact. Mary has been untiring in her efforts to analyze Jason, here. Mary," he turned to her, "You haven't been neglecting your sleep, have you? You know you've a tendency to do that." He turned a brief smile to Stein. "Dedication and youth. Two irresistible forces."

Mary smiled tiredly at them both. "No, Professor Lowe. I've been getting enough sleep. It's just…." She turned to the quiescent form on the slab, "nothing about Jason, here, makes any sense. How does he regenerate with no blood flow? How does he live, without a heartbeat, or noticeable brain wave activity? Yet he does…and others have found out the hard way that he's not a good patient."

"I saw his bonds. I gathered as much. So, have you any theories as to how he does what he does?"

Mary managed another tired-seeming smile. "Black magic? We really don't know. There _is_ cellular regeneration; we can't deny that. That made him of interest to the big boys in the military, but he's also of interest in medical fields. I mean, if we could learn how to harness that process, make it work on us, well, I can't think of any disease we couldn't lick. Even _gorgos_ _testamenta_ would be no match for it. But…we can't find anything that makes any sense out of it."

"I'm sure, if anyone can, that it'll be you, Mary." Professor Lowe spoke with complete sincerity. He turned to Stein. "Mary's been a student of mine for two years now, and I'm not too proud to say she's already surpassed me in practically every field. The only reason she doesn't have her full-fledged doctorate is a mere formality of age." Here he frowned. "Apparently some curmudgeons at the university felt she should be a little older. You know how it goes."

"Indeed I do. I remember it took me forever, or so it seemed.

"But I would be interested in reviewing the data with you, Mary, once I've settled in. That is, if you don't mind?"

"Of course not, Professor. Maybe a fresh perspective will prove productive. Goodness knows something needs to." And the two professors left her to her contemplation of the silent figure on the slab.

They continued on down the corridor, took a lift to the area two decks upward, and walked a short distance down that hallway. "Here you go, Professor…."

"Oh, please, Ben. Let's not stand on formality here. We've progressed beyond mentor and student. I'm Jonathon."

"Ah, of course…Jonathon." It would take him some time, he thought, to get used to calling a man he'd virtually idolized by his first name. "Well, anyway, here's your quarters. The door's already kirlian-locked; all it takes is your bio-signature. I think you'll find everything to your liking, and if there's anything you need, or even want, don't hesitate to let us know." With a few more words, he turned and headed back down the corridor, leaving the professor to open and enter his assigned quarters.

They were indeed sumptuous. Stein had been used to traveling from one assignment to another, often staying at, er, _questionable_ establishments, so these custom-tailored amenities suited him more than okay. He tossed his duffle bag onto the double queen-sized bed, and turned to examining the room itself. A bed, desk, comfortable reading chair, combination data terminal / entertainment system. "On," he said. The large flat-screen terminal instantly lighted up. "Acknowledge identity: Professor Jonathon Stein."

" _Acknowledged. Security encryption delta. Security level: 7."_

He frowned. Only a seven? He'd been hoping for something a bit higher. Still… "Access file: Jason Voorhees."

" _Access denied. Security level insufficient."_

So it was going to be that way, was it? Well, he'd just have to wait and get his info the old-fashioned way. "Very well, then. Access file: Cetus Four."

" _Abstract: a scientific research facility established 2247 for the study of extraterrestrial organisms and non-standard biology. Census: as of 2452, fifteen thousand, nine hundred fifty-two, comprising scientists and research students. The colony serves as a small university, one with an extraordinarily high achievement ratio. Role of graduates is as follows…."_ But Professor Stein was no longer listening.

Hm. So…Jason's file was locked to a higher degree of security, plus he was being transferred to a facility especially dedicated to the study of "non-standard" biology. Stein quirked a smile, at that. Yes. "Non-standard" was a good way of describing Jason. From what he'd heard.

He sincerely hoped nobody would be stupid enough to take the brute for granted this time

This time.

…..

"Mary! Wait up!" Mary turned to see Jaxon running up the corridor after her. He was out of breath from running. "You just come from the morgue?"

"Yeah." She put her hand up to her forehead. "I think I'm going into brain-meltdown, Jax. I keep thinking there's something there, something that I'm missing. But I can't figure out what." She and Jaxon had known each other for several months now, and both were comfortable in each other's presence, to the degree that only good friends can be.

He shrugged. "It might not be anything you've overlooked. My grandmother used to tell stories, stories about supernatural creatures…"

"Bosh. I'm a biologist, Jax. If a thing exists, it's natural. It may be of a nature we don't understand, but it's still natural. Just not anything we know anything about."

"How about that the thing can't be killed? I mean, by definition, if it's alive, it can be killed, right? But it can't be killed. So maybe it's not alive. Maybe it's, like, unalive, undead, or something. If it's not alive, then it would make sense that it can't be killed. Right?"

She shook her head, her short dark brown hair rippling in waves down the side of her face. _Such lovely hair,_ he thought. Of course, he'd never tell her that. She was out of his league. Way out. "Viri don't die, either, Jax. They, too, fall into that category of 'undead,' by definition. But they're very much alive. Peterson's, for example. We learned the hard way that four thousand empty, dormant years was nothing to it. We had to quarantine that whole planet. I understand that quarantine is still in place, even today."

"Well, yeah. All I'm sayin' is, maybe it's something our science hasn't caught up with yet. I mean, that's possible, isn't it?"

"Well, maybe this is _how_ our science catches up with it." Jax sneaked a glance at her face, which had set itself in a stubborn expression, chin jutted just a little ways out. She looked so cute… "Maybe by studying Jason, here, we may well begin to understand what people call the 'supernatural.'

"I don't believe it's beyond us. If it can be studied, then it can be understood. And. I'm gonna be the one to do it."

He laughed. Her enthusiasm was so contagious. When he heard her talk, it bolstered his own faith in science. He just _knew_ she could do it. "Well, I hope you're right. Say, they're gonna have a viewing of that new immersive holodrama later on tonight. You gonna attend?"

Again she shook her head. "I've got some things to do, Jax. I've got to get my notes in order before we reach Cetus Four, and they're nowhere near ready for anything like peer review. Though," and here, _she_ stole a glance at _him_ , "I…do appreciate the…invitation?" _Were you asking me out, Jax?_

 _I sorta hope you were._

"Oh come on. There's plenty of time before then. And all work and no play…"

"I know, I know. Professor Lowe is always telling me that very thing. Well…" Another stolen glance, "uhm. If, if you…think, I mean, if, if you…" She fumbled, clearly unsure of how to phrase what she was trying to say.

He didn't notice. "C'mon, it'll be fun! Consider this my personal invite!" _Go for broke, Jax._ He hoped she couldn't hear the hammering of his heart in his chest. "It'll…uh, be a date, okay? A, a friend-date, I, I mean. Just us, and, and whoever else is there, I mean…" _Please say yes._

She smiled at him, and his world suddenly got a little brighter. "Sure, Jax. I'd love to."

 _Now I know there's a God, 'cause He just answered my prayers._

… _.._

In the morgue: the hulking figure on the slab lay, quiescent. It was not dead, nor was it in any form of suspended animation or hibernation. Jason Voorhees was very much alive and awake.

He knew why he was here, wherever here was. It didn't matter where he was, he was here to punish the guilty. The ones who were guilty of the same sorts of sins that had led to his own "death" and the death of his mother, so very long ago.

Right now, he was bound so securely that he could not move, could get no leverage to use his great strength. But over the centuries, and after the hell that his entire life had been, he'd learned patience. Sooner or later.

Sooner or later, justice would be done.

…..

The holodrama was a new thriller series from the entertainment planet Tinseltown, and it proved to be more than exciting. It wasn't long before they were all squealing with fear or delight, or a combination of both. All the crew, and the students, minus the two professors and KM, were in attendance, and the immersive element made it seem like it was _really happening_ , right then and there. Jaxon glanced over at Mary, who was half curled up in a ball, alternately laughing and shrieking, an expression of horrified delight on her face. He longed to be able to just reach over and put his arm around her, but he knew he didn't have the courage for that, yet. But maybe he could take her hand? Surely, that wouldn't be too much…

 _Baby steps, Jax…_

But he no sooner thought that, than she sobered up, closed her eyes, put her hand up to the side of her head, and moaned. " _Oooh_."

"Mary? Something wrong?"

"I, I just got this sharp pain in my head." She winced; this had never happened before. Mary, like all of the young people of her generation, had availed herself of the most modern in medical health maintenance, and had never even had a headache. _If this is a headache, headaches sure suck._ "I…I may have to go, Jax. I, I'm sorry…"

"Hey, it's okay." Now he did take her hand in his, her fingers curling around his. It was the best feeling he'd ever experienced to date. "I understand. Do you need any help getting to your quarters?"

She managed a feeble smile. He didn't think it had yet dawned on her that they were _actually holding hands_. "No, no. I'll be fine. I just…maybe I'd best go lie down a while. Maybe Professor Lowe's right; maybe I have been working too much. I'll let the autodoc look me over if it doesn't go away."

"Okay…if you're sure?"

"I'm sure. Thanks, Jax." They both got up from their seats, there in the back of the room, disconnecting the IM headsets simultaneously. For a moment, they were standing together there in the darkened room, standing very close together. The others, still in the IM, didn't notice them. She looked up at him, about to tell him goodnight, when their mutual _closeness_ registered on them both. They were only a couple of inches apart; he could smell the clean scent of her hair, that hair that he so longed to run his fingers through. There was a brief moment between the two of them when it seemed as though time itself came to a standstill….and then she dropped her eyes, and the moment was gone. "I, I'd best be getting on. Thank you, Jax. You're a good friend."

"Oh. Uh. Right. Yeah, you're welcome. Look, if you need anything…"

"I'll let you know. Thanks again." She saw the look on his face, and something inside her melted. Impulsively, she reached up and kissed him. Just a brief, friend-type peck on the lips. And then she turned and left, leaving a pleasantly-stunned Jaxon behind her.

…

Mary made her way along the silent, empty corridors, headed for her room. Her head was really pounding; definitely time for the autodoc to check her out. There had to be something seriously wrong with her to be hurting this bad this suddenly.

Even through her pain, she smiled as she remembered Jaxon's face, the way it had lit up when she kissed him. If only he knew how much courage it had taken _her_ to do that!

Did she care for him, as more than just a friend?

Mary had put her whole life on hold, throwing all her time and considerable energy into getting her education, and securing a place for herself on the staff of the university. Her whole family had pushed her to do this, but they hadn't had to push very hard. It had been a life-long dream of hers, to be a teacher, the same way that Professor Lowe, and, yes, Professor Stein were. She wanted that for herself.

But now, she was asking herself if there weren't other….things just as, if not more, important.

She shook her head, continuing on down the corridor. Time for that later. For now, get herself seen to. This pain wasn't going away.

And so she went down towards her room, completely unaware that her every move was being watched.


	2. Chapter 2: Revivification

Jason X vs. The Thing: Chapter 2: Revivification

….

 _Don't own, you know. Onward._

…

Chapter 2: Revivification

The de-icing chemical covered Dr. LaFontaine's body, and the electrostimulation units were poised to act. Professor Lowe watched worriedly; even today, thawing out a living human was not without its risks.

But all went smoothly, and presently the body of LaFontaine began to shiver as her natural environmental controls began to kick back in. He moved forward and laid a blanket over her form, more for convention's sake than necessity. "Dr. LaFontaine? Can you hear me?" The autodoc had already begun to heal the wound in her abdomen from Jason's machete.

For a long, long moment, she made no reply, and he held his breath. He glanced over at Professor Stein; he was the very picture of calm self-control. Braithewaite envied him that.

Then, at long last, her lips moved. She still didn't have enough strength to actually speak, but he could read her lips: _shit, that hurts._

He smiled. She'd be okay.

…..

The holodrama ended, and the revelers lifted off their IM headsets, laughing in relief and appreciation. "Whoo," said Adrienne, "That was _something!_ "

"Hey," said Tsunaron, "Where's Mary and Jax?"

Stoney smirked. "Oh, you know…maybe they decided on another kind of entertainment."

Kinsa _whapped_ him on the shoulder. "Oh, you and your dirty mind."

"Yeah, and you love it, don'cha?"

Tsunaron was still looking troubled. "No, seriously, people. Where did they go? You know it's not like Jax to leave in the middle of something…not without good reason."

"Oh, I'd say Mary definitely constitutes 'good reason.'"

"Shuddup." He had a bad feeling about this. "Ship? Locate Jaxon."

" _Jaxon is in his room."_

"Where's Mary?"

" _Subject is in her room."_

"Oh. Are they both okay?"

" _Bio signs within normal limits in both cases."_

He turned triumphantly back to Stoney. "So much for your dirty mind. They must'a just got tired of the show, that's all. No big. Not everybody likes the same stuff."

"I guess," he grumbled. Then he brightened, a lecherous expression crossing his face. "But it sure was a waste of a perfectly good slip-out, though, if ya ask me."

….

Mary woke from a deep sleep. She felt funny…not exactly hurting, but not feeling good, either. Then she noticed she was completely naked, lying on her bed.

She gasped, automatically covering herself up. Mary wasn't used to going naked even in her own quarters, except to bathe, of course. Why would she be naked now?

Her head still hurt somewhat. Had she been drinking? But no, she didn't drink. Had she…oh god…had she gone back to her room with someone?

She got up and threw on a robe. Cautiously, she listened for any signs of someone else in her quarters.

Nothing. She was alone.

Had someone been here, but was now gone? But who? The last thing she remembered was kissing Jaxon as she slipped out of the IM, and his concern for her. But he hadn't followed her, of that she was sure.

So what the hell had happened?

She finally decided the hell with it. Going into the bathroom, she let the robe drop, and stepped into the shower, turning it up as hot as she could stand it, and leaned under the water stream, a million questions on her mind.

Just what had happened last night? It wasn't like her to have such sharp, shooting pains just all of a sudden like that. She resolved to let the autodoc look her over. Maybe she'd eaten something she was allergic to, though she'd never been prone to allergies before.

Well, anyway.

Automatically, her mind went back to Jason. What could she possibly be overlooking? It wasn't possible for such cellular regeneration to work so effectively by osmosis alone….

Or was it? Maybe this was what she was telling Jaxon last night: a nature they'd never encountered before. If so, the rule book just went out the airlock.

Thinking about Jaxon, she couldn't help but smile. He was so…so…she didn't know what. She knew he was attracted to her, and in more than a friend way, but was she ready for a relationship like that?

Would it be fair to him to get all involved, only to have her career get in the way of their happiness?

Maybe best not to light any fires to begin with.

But…the memory of that kiss, peck though it was, seemed to have taken up permanent residence in her mind, and she couldn't evict it. And she found she didn't really want to.

…..

"Yes, Adrienne. I need you to do an autopsy on Jason here." Professor Lowe had corralled Adrienne just outside, in the corridor as she was walking past the morgue.

"An autopsy? But I thought that…that thing…wasn't dead?" The young blond woman glanced at the form on the table. Something about it made her uneasy. She wasn't comfortable being in the same room with it. But she'd been called in what was the middle of the night by Professor Lowe, who'd insisted he needed to see her _now._

"It's alright, Adrienne. All vital signs we previously noted have ceased. The creature is dead, at long last. So now's the perfect time to cut it open and find out some things."

"Shouldn't Mary be here, sir? I mean, she's devoted so much of her time to the subject…"

"Ah, yes, about that." Professor Lowe turned a bit evasive. "I feel Mary's been getting a little too involved in the matter. It's affecting her health. We don't want that, now do we? Besides, she herself said, just the other day, that a fresh perspective could prove to be productive. So let's let her rest, alright? You _are_ up to the job, aren't you?"

"Of course, Professor. I, I just didn't want to, you know, step on anyone's toes or anything…."

"If she says anything, just refer her to me. I'll handle it. Now. I'll leave you to it. We don't have long before we reach Cetus Four, and it would be helpful if we had more data on our star attraction, here." Adrienne wondered why Lowe was pushing for this. They weren't _that_ close to Cetus Four; there should have been plenty of time to involve Mary, even after she'd rested.

And…. "What about Professor Stein? I heard he wanted to examine the creature."

He waved her off. "Professor Stein only wants to review the data. So the more data we have, the more he'll have to review, right? So now, get to it, okay?" Why was he rushing her like this?

After he'd left, he made his way back to his quarters. Once there, and once he'd disabled the security cameras in his area, he placed a very special call. Dieter Perez, his financial backer, was aware of his…problem. _"So, Professor. What have you to report?"_

"I've detailed one of my top students to performing the autopsy, as you suggested. What we'll find, of course, is anyone's guess. Do you think the data will be…worth anything?" Unbeknownst to the rest of them, Professor Braithewaite Lowe was heavily in debt. He knew the military was interested in the body, and its peculiar properties. Perhaps others could be interested in purchasing the same data.

" _It's quite possible. But, to be frank, it may well be that the body itself will be of more value. I can think of no less than three collectors who'd pay a pretty credit to own this exclusive piece of Earth's history. How possible is that?"_

"Er….what…sort of figures might we be talking about? I mean…" He knew if he _didn't_ deliver the body to the authorities at Cetus Four, there would be some…questions. Perez named a figure, and Lowe's eyebrows climbed towards the ceiling in surprise. Yes, yes, that figure could easily be worth a few "questions."

Mary found Professor Stein standing before one of the observation ports, one foot propped up on a ledge, watching the stars. They formed a backdrop that framed his lean, angular face. "Professor Stein?"

"Ah, yes, Mary." He glanced at her, then back at the tableau outside. "Fantastic, aren't they?"

"Sir?"

"The stars. No matter how many times I see them, I'm always entranced with their beauty." His eyes narrowed, gazing at some scene only he could see. "So many possibilities…."

She followed his gaze out the viewport. It _was_ a magnificent view. "Yes. I…always enjoyed looking up at the stars, back home." She smiled, remembering. He watched her out of the corner of his eye. "Maybe that was one of the reasons I applied to the university. New worlds."

"'Golden cities far.' Yes, my dear, I know exactly what you mean. Those of us of another age called it 'itchy feet syndrome.'" He chuckled. "I suppose nowadays, you'd have to say 'itchy starship syndrome.'"

Unexpectedly, she laughed. The way he'd said that had caught her off guard. She remembered it had been a long time since she'd really allowed herself much in the way of human company….

….and the memory of Jax's kiss the previous night was still bright in her mind. "I guess you're right. But you must've seen this vista so many times already."

He shook his head, still watching the outside view. "It never gets old, my dear." He turned from the port and faced her abruptly. "I hear they had a gathering of young people last night, one of those immersive media things that are all the rage. I hope you were able to attend. All people, and especially young people, need some social interaction. I've noticed a great many people, especially in our circles, tend to neglect that."

"Oh, I went. With a, a…friend…of mine." She couldn't hide the slight blush on her cheeks, a blush he noticed. _I hope he's worthy of you, child._

Aloud, "Well, good. I'm going to go check on Dr. LaFontaine. We thawed her out successfully, but she had that nasty stab wound to deal with. The regenerators couldn't get to work on her until full circulation was restored. But she should be getting back on her feet soon.

"How goes your study of Jason?"

"No further progress to report. He's dead, but not dead. That should be impossible, but it is. So I'm having to rethink the rule book."

He nodded, turning away from the 'port. She did likewise, and they started down the corridor. "Sometimes that's necessary. Sometimes that's the only way science makes progress: by throwing out the old rules, and being open to new ones."

She smiled at that. That was pretty much what she'd told Jaxon just the other day. "That's true." She didn't know anything else to say, and an uncomfortable silence fell between them.

"Mary?" There was a certain tone in his voice that made her half-turn to him, as they walked down the corridor.

"Hm? Yes, Professor?"

He studied her a moment. Then, "I know we've only just met, and I'd hate for you to think I'm being…presumptuous, but…it seems like something is bothering you. Something perhaps out of the ordinary?"

Mary's breath hitched for a moment. The incident the other day, with her sudden headache, and subsequently waking up the way she had…. "Well, i-it's really nothing…" His expression said, _go on._ "It…it's just last night, I had, had something happen that, that's never happened to me before. Something kinda strange." She blushed furiously. Why was she telling him this? It was like he said, they'd just met… "I had gone to that holodrama with a friend, and…right in the middle of it, had this incredible headache, or, or something like it. I had to leave, go back to my room."

He nodded, and seemed on the verge of speaking, when, to her own vast surprise, she continued, "…but the part that really bothered me was, I woke up…er…with, er, no clothes on." She was sure her face was as red as a ruby laser. Now why had she confided that in him?

But words spoken….

Instead of laughing, he nodded, sympathetically. "You know, you may not believe this, but I have heard of something similar happening before. To a colleague of mine, in fact, back when I first achieved tenure at the university. She was trying for her second doctorate, and I could tell the strain was beginning to tell on her.

"Then one morning she showed up for our usual morning coffee a bit pale-seeming. I asked her what was wrong, and she told me that, the day before, she'd been in her office, when she'd been stricken, all of a sudden, with a fierce headache, one like she'd never had. Then…and here's the part that really bothered her…the next thing she remembered was waking up in her own bed, back in her apartment, er, fully clothed, I might add…but with a pot of coffee brewing on the counter. At first, she thought, maybe she'd passed out and somebody had carried her home, maybe putting the coffee on as they left—but the apartment's security system hadn't registered anybody but herself. But she didn't remember a thing about it. It bothered her, of course, just like this incident is bothering you.

"Personally, my opinion—nonprofessional, you understand—is that her brain just—took a brief vacation. Reset itself, so to speak. If you're a coffee drinker—and she was—then making coffee in the morning can become such an ingrained habit that you don't even know you've made it until you smell it brewing.

"It's possible something similar happened to you, what with the stress you've been under and all. If so, it's perfectly normal. 'Within normal limits,' as they say."

Relief flooded over her, so much that she almost fell down. So. She wasn't crazy, after all! It had just been…a "brain fart," as Jaxon would say. "Oh, thank you, Professor! You've no idea how, how _worried_ I was…" And poor Jax, poor sweet Jax…how worried he must be, and all over a few misfiring synapses. Nothing to worry about.

He waved off her thanks. "Quite alright, my dear. One of the obligations of age is to share one's experiences and knowledge with the next generation. That's one reason I became a teacher in the first place."

Something occurred to her, through her haze of relief. "Uh, Professor? Uh, don't…I mean, please don't tell anyone…what I just told you, okay? I mean…." Why _had_ she confided in him? But something about him just seemed to inspire trust in her…

Again a wave. "Oh, you needn't worry, Mary. I know when to keep a confidence. What was said between us goes nowhere. And," and here, he glanced up at the ceiling, "I understand that the security system is malfunctioning, so there'll be no record of our conversation from that source."

She put her hands to the side of her face, once again blushing crimson. "Ohmigod. I totally didn't even think about that!"

Now he laughed, a gentle laugh. "Well, it's not an issue. Evidently, there's some sort of glitch in the central computer's programming. I understand Tsunaron and Kay Em are looking into it."

"Well," she said, recovering, "I suppose I'd best go check in on Jason. Maybe now that my brain has 'reset,' I'll be able to find out something. Did you…would you like to come along?"

"Why, certainly, my dear. I'd be honored."

They made their way on down to the morgue. "Hm, that's odd," said Mary. The two were standing just outside the door to the morgue.

"What's odd?"

"The door…it's not fully closed. That's…unusual." She keyed in the code, and the door _swished_ the rest of the way open.

The form lay on the slab, still covered by the heavy sheet. Strange, she thought to herself; it didn't seem quite so hulking right then. Maybe the Professor's comforting presence… "Well, let's see what we have here." And Mary removed the sheet…

….and shrieked in horror.

Because the form on the slab wasn't Jason, but Adrienne's. And where he head should be was only a bloody pulp.

….

"Awright, let's go over this once more." Sergeant Brodski had been rousted out of a perfectly good slumber to come take a look at what was clearly a bizarre. murder. Well, at least it was different than the usual missing shit. "You came in, and found her like this? And no sign of Jason?"

"That's correct," said Professor Stein, calmly. Mary was still sobbing uncontrollably. Jaxon had moved over to her side, and was holding her arm, talking low to her, trying to help her get herself under control. _Put your arm around her, boy. You know you want to._ "We noticed the door was slightly ajar. Once we got in….well, everything's as you see."

"So what do you think happened?"

Stein shrugged. "From what I've seen…given the lack of evidence, I'd say that Adrienne was attempting some sort of procedure on Jason, and released his bonds. That proved to be a most unwise course of action." He gestured towards the body of the woman, still on the slab. "Hazarding a guess, I'd say it looks like she was exposed to some supercold substance, liquid nitrogen, perhaps, and her head then…shattered."

"Great. So we gotta monster on board."

"Yes indeed. But, Major…we can't really say it was Jason who killed her. She _could_ have been murdered by some human, and Jason's body stolen. But given Jason's past record of resurrection, I'd say it's highly probable he's out there, somewhere. Probably armed with some sharp object." He gestured towards the table, where rows of gleaming implements were laid out.

"Okay. We'll split up into teams…" And he began to detail orders to his squad.

Stein drifted over to where Mary and Jaxon were huddling. "Jaxon. Why don't you take Mary back to her quarters. There's nothing more to be done here…and….maybe she doesn't need to be alone right now. Think you can do that?"

"O-of course, prof. Come on, Mary. I'll take you back to your room, okay? It's okay, well, not _okay_ okay, but, but everything's being done that can be done…." And he steered her out of the morgue.

Stein singled out Professor Lowe. "Ben? I don't suppose you've anything to add to this?"

Lowe ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "N-no, not, not…I mean…this is horrible, a terrible shock…"

"Ben. Why was Adrienne down here? What was she doing?"

"I don't know! The, the last I saw of her, she was going to her quarters…"

Stein's eyes narrowed as he appraised the other. "So…she was performing some unauthorized procedure on the subject? All on her own?"

"Y-yeah, I mean, she had to've been, didn't she? I mean…"

Stein leaned in close. "You didn't tell her to perform an autopsy, did you?"

Lowe paled. That told Stein a lot. "No! I mean, I'd never, never tell her to, to do anything without proper authorization! I, I don't know what she could have been thinking…"

 _He's lying,_ thought Stein. _But why?_

…..

Jaxon saw Mary back to her quarters. "Hey, are you gonna be alright? I mean, you, you seem pretty broken up…."

She sniffled. "Oh, I don't know why I'd be broken up. I only just discovered a friend of mine dead, with her head all smashed to pieces! I mean, that happens all the time, right?" Then she saw the look of hurt on his face, and something inside her broke. "Oh, Jax. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, to take it out on you." She put her arms around him, laying her head on his shoulder. "I…that was inexcusable of me. Forgive me?"

 _I'd forgive you anything._ "Sure." He dared to stroke her hair. She didn't seem to mind, and his heart soared. "Hey, it's alright, I'm not… I mean, _of course_ you're busted up, I just wanted to, you know, know if I could, like, do anything. You know." The two were just outside the door to her quarters. "You know I'd do anything for you. You're my" _gulp_ "friend."

She smiled up at him out of his embrace. "Thanks, Jax. You're good to me." Abruptly, she gave a small laugh. "You might be _too_ good for me. You'll get me all spoiled an' everything." She laid her head back down on his chest. "And I'd love every minute of it." _Am I really saying what I'm saying? And to Jax?_

 _Is it….time?_

"Uhm. Yeah. Uhm." They just stood there a moment, her head on his chest, his arms around her. Then she drew back slightly, looking up into his eyes. Her lips were only inches away from his.

They looked at each other for a long, long moment….

Then she dropped her gaze, and pulled out of his grip. The moment was gone. "Well, I guess I'd better be getting inside. Thanks, Jax. I…you're a good friend." And she was gone, leaving him standing there in the corridor, partially disappointed, and partially relieved.

Like her, he never suspected he was being watched.

 _To be continued…_


	3. Chapter 3: Hunting Grounds

Jason X vs. the Thing: A Learning Experience

…

 _I don't own either the "Friday the 13_ _t"h_ _or "The Thing" franchises, of course. But I'm sure having fun with 'em._

…..

Chapter 3: Hunting Grounds

Stoney and Kinsa were locked in an orgasmic embrace ("Are you sure this is okay?" "Sure, I'm sure, babe. Trust me: nobody comes along here.") when suddenly, to Kinsa's horror, a surgical steel blade suddenly protruded from his chest. His face registered shock as he went slack. Jason pulled back on him, dragging him off down the corridor, while Kinsa screamed, and screamed….

The alarms went off, and Brodski's team mobilized, but they arrived too late to save Stoney. "Which way? Okay, you, and you, you go down that way…."

Down in the bowels of the ship, Jason made his way through the darkened corridors. He didn't really need what humans would call sight, but he could tell where the Evil Ones were, and, to some degree, what they were doing. Jason's mind was not like a human's mind; in fact, about the only thing in it was the memory of his own tormented life, his death, and his mother. Everything else—everyone else-was to be destroyed.

He wasn't alone down here.

Jason suddenly jerked up, when his senses registered the other one. There was something else down here with him…but unlike all the other times, this creature was one he couldn't seem to sense very well. He just knew it was there, and that it was watching him. He looked one way, then another, his hockey mask swiveling from right to left. Where was it?

There: in an accessway, just up ahead. There was something there, something that didn't belong. Jason moved forward to get a better look….and a figure swung out into the darkened corridor and confronted him, one arm and one leg still in the accessway from which it had come.

Jason looked the silhouetted figure over. There was a dream-like quality to it, somehow. Overall, it looked human, but his senses could tell that it wasn't even close. Jason was accustomed to the sight of him producing either terror or confusion in his prey. But from the figure standing in front of him, he sensed nothing. No confusion, and no fear.

The two stood in the corridor, each examining the other. The figure opposing Jason stood firmly, partway in the hallway, not moving, not shifting its stance, as humans normally did. In fact, it made no moves whatsoever; it stood as still as a statue. Jason readied the weaponized surgical instrument he'd appropriated…one quick swipe, and the other's head would go flying…

…And then, with the fluid grace of a shadow, the figure simply melted back into the accessway from which it had come, leaving Jason looking after it, wondering, in his own vague way, why it didn't seem to register with his supernatural powers of sight. All humans did. This creature hadn't run away, as his victims frequently did. It had simply…left.

Had this thing been sizing him up?

Had _it_ wanted _him_ to see _it_?

….

"Professor? You wanted to see us?" Tsunaron and Kay Em were in Professor Stein's quarters.

"Yes, yes I did. Tsunaron…how long have you known Professor Lowe?"

Tsunaron looked puzzled. "Well…practically the whole time I've been a student. I remember taking classes under him in my freshman year. Why?"

Stein hesitated. But he had to take them into his confidence. "When Adrienne was killed…I asked him, point-blank, if he'd told her to do an autopsy. He denied it. But…Tsunaron…he was lying. I could tell."

" _What?_ Are you sure? But, but why…?"

"I was hoping you could help me with the 'why' part. Mind you, I'm sure he didn't mean for what happened to happen, don't get me wrong. He was as horrified as we all were. But I'm almost one hundred percent sure he ordered the autopsy. But I can't figure out why he'd do that."

Kay Em spoke up, slowly. She was, after all, Professor Lowe's personal assistant, and felt a great deal of loyalty towards him… "I…remember him saying once that he was experiencing a 'bit of a cash flow problem.' When I asked him about it, he became…evasive, I suppose you'd say. But…I don't see how that could relate to this."

Stein shook his head, and pinched the bridge of his nose, hard. "My dear, Jason's body is a minefield of data. Mary has been untiringly trying to explore that. But that data has value…all data does. It…may be…" He paused a moment, in evident pain at what he was about to say. "Ben could have sought to sell the data to some other source. I imagine there would be a great many people who'd pay a lot for the secret of eternal life.

"Or for a means of producing super-soldiers that can't be killed.

"I really hate to think that about him, but…" he sighed. "But there's simply no other reason why Adrienne would have been performing an autopsy—or any procedure, for that matter—without his order."

The other two looked shocked, even Kay Em. They'd long known Professor Lowe, and had the highest regard for him. "Tsunaron? What's the latest word on the security systems? Until they get back online, we're all sitting ducks."

Tsunaron thought furiously, still trying to wrap his mind around the concept of _Professor Lowe,_ of all people, doing something like this. If it was true—and he reminded himself that it might not be—then Lowe bore part of the responsibility for Adrienne's death, and for Stoney's, too. "It, it's coming along. The techs say it's like something disrupted the whole system, some foreign program, a virus or something. They're— _we're_ —" He looked at Kay Em. "Trying to isolate and contain it now. But it's not easy."

"Any idea when it might get ironed out?"

He shook his head. "No. It's still a work in progress."

Stein crossed over to the middle of his room. "Until then, I don't think it's a good idea to get separated, at least any more than we have to. I don't see any point in telling Sergeant Brodski about this; he's got his job cut out for him anyway, and Ben's involvement…shouldn't matter. Maybe, with luck, it'll never need to come out. I hope so." This last was said in a low voice that even Kay Em, with her exceptional hearing, had a hard time making out. "I truly hope so."

…..

The corporal had been delegated to secure the aft section towards maintenance. He checked in with his comm; no luck. Something was interfering with the transmission. He shook the unit; it couldn't be the same thing that was affecting the ship's security system; they were on two different systems altogether.

He felt really alone and vulnerable here, in spite of his weapon and his training. Humanity had been at peace for a very long time, and he'd never even been called to the scene of a major crime. Seeing that poor girl's headless body, and the other man's mutilated corpse, had been an eye-opening experience for him. One he really felt he could have done without.

 _Oh, well,_ he told himself, _just do this patrol and get on back to the others. Once we clear these passageways, we'll have a better idea of just where this maniac is hiding. Then we can-*_ He stopped. There was a figure in the shadows. "Who's there?" He trained his gun on the figure. "Come on out here where I can see you!"

The figure moved into the passageway, and the light spilled over its features. "Oh!" He said, "It's you!" Relief flooded him; it wasn't Jason after all. "Look, you shouldn't be down here, there's a maniac on the loose. Dunno if you've heard but there's already been two deaths. So get on back up…wait. What're you doing?" As he watched, the figure _changed,_ horribly, becoming something completely inhuman. Without a sound, it sprang on him, knocking his gun aside and bearing him to the floor.

….

Brodski stood at Stein's door and signaled for entrance. "Come in," came the voice from inside.

He stepped into the room. Stein was sitting in the recliner, reading Thucydides' account of the Peloponnesian War _._ "Yes, Major? You seem…" he trailed off. Brodski was clearly upset.

"Yeah, I 'seem,' alright. Professor, I need you to come down to the morgue. I've already lost three men to your hatchet-wielding weirdo, but…there's something else."

"Certainly, Major. Let me stop and collect Mary on the way; she _is_ our resident expert on Jason."

"Good deal."

Stein went to Mary's quarters. "Mary? Are you in there?"

There was a moment. Stein imagined her as waking up. Then, "Yes, Professor?"

"I've been summoned to the morgue. Evidently Jason's been busy. I thought you might want to be in on this." Surely, he thought, there was no reason to bring up the possibility of Lowe's perfidy. After all, the man could be innocent of any wrongdoing…

…But Stein didn't believe that.

The door opened. Mary was wearing her usual shipboard jumpsuit, such as most of them wore. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. _Poor thing; the first good night's sleep she's had, and now this._ "You say Jason's killed again?"

"Major Brodski's group has suffered some casualties. He mentioned Jason, but he also mentioned 'something else.' I'm curious as to what."

The morgue: it had become a true morgue now, with several slabs holding more sheet-covered bodies. One by one, Brodski showed them his men, hacked apart with a surgical-steel blade, or broken with prodigious strength. Mary looked on in horror. So this was what she'd been studying? This monster?

"But here's what I wanted you to see, Professor. I mean, Jason, we kinda got. We know his MO. Sorta. But this other…this one's…different." He gestured towards the form on the last table. "This one we don't know about."

Stein picked up the dog tags. Corporal Benjamin Leibrowski. He pulled the sheet back.

Leibrowski's body lay on the gurney. Unlike the others, there was no mark of a blade on his seemingly-whole body. But he was extremely pale, more so that simple death should account for, and his expression was caught in a rictus of pain and horror; his throat had been torn open. Mary gasped, her hands going to her mouth. She'd seen dead bodies before; this was a different kind of death. "P-Professor? What…what happened to him?"

Stein bent over the body, examining it as best he could. "Without an autopsy, I can't say for sure, but…" He looked up at Brodski, who was flanked by two of his troops. "Major. Was the body tampered with in any way?"

"No. This is like we found him."

"Did you see evidence of a lot of blood at the site?"

"No." Brodski shifted nervously. He didn't like the way this conversation was going. "It was…well, you understand, we didn't run a full forensic on the site, but from what the men who found him are telling me, no. Why? Is it important?"

Stein nodded. "Very. See these wounds on his neck?"

"I can't _un_ see 'em," growled Brodski. "What are you getting at?"

Stein paused, a long moment, while he examined the body of the corporal. "What I'm seeing…it looks like the mark of… teeth perhaps? Or, or invasive protrusions of some sort. But notice the lack of blood around the wound. Those veins, the common carotid arteries, and the internal jugular vein, carry a lot of blood; they have to supply the brain. When punctured, they bleed quite freely. Yet, the wound itself, indeed, the whole body, is remarkably clean of dried blood. Oh, there's some, but not nearly enough to account for simple punctures, or tear wounds."

"And this means….?" Brodski was getting impatient. Things were rapidly spiraling out of control. _What am I saying. They already have._

"I don't mean to sound melodramatic, but something had to've happened to all that blood. It didn't just disappear. Note how pale the body is. Major…understand, this is just my unprofessional opinion, but it's the best I can do without an autopsy…it looks like something attacked him and drained him of his blood. From the condition of the body…" he gestured at the torso with a pen, "it looks like he was held down…during this procedure."

"Must'a happened quick," said one of the other troops standing with Brodski. "He didn't even have a chance to fire his weapon."

"Quick," murmured Stein. "Or…something."

"So what are you saying, prof? Jason's changed his MO? Attacked one of my men and what? Drained him of his blood? Maybe drank it or something?"

"No. That's not Jason's way, as you noted. He might not use a blade, but not this. No, this is the work of something else.

"And I'm afraid that means we have more than one killer on board this ship."

 _To be continued…_


	4. Chapter 4: A Rock and A Hard Place

Jason X vs. The Thing: A Learning Experience

…

Chapter 4: A Rock and a Hard Place

….

 _I don't own the "Friday the Thirteenth" or "The Thing" franchises. If I did, I'd be negotiating with AMC or someone for a weekly series. Well, I can dream._

…

Chapter 4: A Rock and a Hard Place

Stein escorted a still-shaken Mary out of the morgue. "Mary? I know this is a shock to you…to us all…and I don't mean to sound heartless, but we have to keep ourselves together. Jason alone was bad enough. If indeed there is something else on board this ship…"

Mary was still in a state of partial shock. The sight of all the dead bodies…and what she'd been studying so intently had done that. And then the other one, the one Professor Stein said was killed by something else…that was even more horrifying, in a way. But the concern in his voice managed to reach her.

"Y-yeah, Professor, I know you're right. I'll be okay. I _have_ to be." He could see her steeling herself. She couldn't let her friends down. She couldn't let _Jax_ down. _Especially_ Jax. "But what could have _happened_?"

"Mary!" Jaxon came running down the corridor. "I've been looking all over!" He drew up to them, just then noticing her distress. "What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid there's been some more deaths, Jaxon," said Stein. "And…well."

"Mary?" Jax's voice was tender. He reached out for her arm.

She smiled, and put her arms around him. "Yes, Jax. I'm alright. It…it was just a shock, I mean, seeing all those poor men killed, and then…that other…" Her voice dropped to a whisper.

Jax looked at Professor Stein, for once Mary's close proximity going unnoticed. "Other? Other what?"

Stein looked around. "Let's step in here a moment, shall we? It's probably a good idea you're here anyway, Jaxon." The trio stepped into Mary's quarters. "We need to take this discussion out of the corridor anyway. Yes, it's a good idea you're here," Stein repeated. Mary had recovered, but she still hung onto Jax's arm. Or maybe he was hanging on to hers. Or perhaps a little bit of both.

Stein smiled inwardly when he saw that. Young people…so afraid to show their true feelings. "Jaxon, did this ship stop anywhere else besides the Crystal Lake facility? Any other worlds?"

Jax thought. "Well, yeah. A few. I mean, most of us came from Earth Two, but there's a couple from, from the Cygnus Research facility. Why? Is it important?"

"It could be." He motioned them to sit. "What I'm about to tell you I need you to keep to yourselves.

"Jason's loose, and he's once again indulging in his favorite pastime. But…I think there's something else out there. Something that killed one of the troops."

"Killed him and drank his blood," muttered Mary.

Jax looked at her, shocked. "What?"

Stein looked grim. "Yes. And that's not Jason's way. Which means, like I said, there's something else here on board. That's why I was asking you, Jaxon, if the _Grendel_ had stopped anywhere else. Anywhere where it could have picked up a…hitchhiker."

Both students looked thoughtful. "I, I don't see how," said Jaxon. I mean, we stopped, yeah, but, but just to take on shuttles. Just like we did yours. We were never…I mean, we just never had scads of people coming and going. Just a few who arrived by shuttle. How…what sort of thing are you talking about?"

Stein hesitated a long, long moment. Then, "It would have to be about the size of a man, give or take a little. Such a creature would be hard to hide, in the closed confines of this ship." He looked thoughtful. "And I can't, for the life of me, think of any alien life form that feeds on humans. Most alien life forms are so different from humanity, it would be like a human being trying to eat rock.

"But the bottom line is: we need that surveillance system back online. Until then, Jason can roam at will, killing whomever he comes across.

"In the meantime, we're all in danger. And not just from Jason."

….

Professor Lowe stepped into the control room of the _Grendel._ "Lou? There's been a change of plans. I need you to go to these coordinates…" He showed the pilot the piece of paper. "We need to dock with the _Solaris._ They can send us help, and maybe help us get Jason corralled."

"Professor? Are you sure?" Usually, a change of course required more discussion than this.

"I'm sure. You know we're experiencing mechanical difficulty, and Major Brodski's men are getting picked off one by one. Obviously, we can't tolerate that state of affairs. We need help, and they're the closest help there is." Perez was on that ship, and, if he could work it right, he could take Jason off his hands, and solve Lowe's financial problems in one fell swoop. And, not incidentally, it would also give him a chance to get off this death ship. _Myself and others, of course,_ he corrected himself.

After he'd left, Lou rerouted the new coordinates into the computer. This would be tricky…

The door swished open behind him. "Forget something, Prof-*" Jason's blade put an end to his question.

" _Grendel! Grendel! What are you doing?"_ The controller's voice sounded frantic. Unfortunately for the station, the _Grendel_ was now pilotless.

…

Brodski didn't know it, but he and Private Davis were the last two soldiers left on board the _Grendel._

At the moment, they were conducting what they didn't realize was a completely useless sweep of a level 4 corridor, leading to the cryo chambers and labs. "Keep a look out, Davis. With the system down, we don't have any way of knowing what's down here." They were just passing by the main freezer units, where the liquid nitrogen was kept. Both men were at a state of high alert.

It did them no good whatsoever.

The first inkling Brodski had of trouble was when he heard a strangled gasp from behind him. Whirling around, he saw Davis in the grip of some indescribable _thing_ from a hallucinogenic nightmare. It seemed to partake of the characteristics of several different animals, yet was completely unrelated to anything of earthly origin. Davis was being held in what might have been called its jaws, except what was locked on the private's throat looked more like _tubes_ than teeth, tubes that pulsed as they sucked the life-blood out of the human's body. It noticed him, and swung around on insectile legs to face him, all the while not letting go of its prey. At no time did it make any sound.

For the briefest of moments, Brodski was frozen, horrified at what he was seeing. Then, with a sound that was as much scream as battle-cry, he pulled up his gun and fired at the thing, full-automatic.

Bullets sprayed everywhere, ricocheting throughout the corridor. Many struck the thing, and for once it made a sound: a hiss of anger. It dropped its prey, and started towards the Major. Brodski responded by attempting to compensate for his aim, only to have the bullets strike the delicate cryo machinery. The tanks erupted, spraying out their load of liquid nitrogen into the corridor. The monster hissed again, springing back, and disappeared into a crawlspace, taking its prey with it.

Then the whole ship shuddered, as it crashed into the station.

….

Stein had called the survivors into the main meeting room. Rowan LaFontaine was present; Mary was not. "People, I think it's safe to say we have a problem." The others looked on, numbed by shock. "We have no pilot, the _Solaris_ , which we were supposed to dock with, is destroyed, as is the space station. What this means is, we are on a damaged ship, with no source of help anywhere nearby. Has anyone heard anything from Major Brodski? No? That's…troubling."

"I'll go look for him," volunteered LaFontaine. "I know something of Jason, and how he works. I believe I can sidestep him. Plus, I'll be armed."

"Not so fast, doctor. There's more than Jason at work. Say, where's Mary? For that matter, where's Ben?"

Tsunaron spoke up. "Last I heard, he was trying to get to the auxiliary controls. Mary I don't know about; I told everybody about this meeting. She should be here."

"I'm here." A tired-looking Mary appeared in the doorway. Jaxon immediately rushed to her side. "Mary? You look sick."

"I'm….I'm alright, Jax. Just a headache." _One of several I've had lately. But I don't want to worry you with that._

"Mary?" Stein approached the pair. "You're our resident expert on Jason. Does he have any weaknesses? Anything at all?"

Mary thought. "N-no, not, not as such. If, if you inflict enough damage on him, it'll take him a long time to regenerate, though. But it would take a massive amount of damage."

"What about the water thing? Ben mentioned that being immersed in water seemed to subdue him."

She nodded. Her head still hurt but it was getting better. Anyway, she couldn't let her friends down. "It's a possibility. But we don't have a body of water to immerse him in….do we?"

Stein was obviously thinking furiously. "This ship has a fusion drive, doesn't it? So it's bound to have water tanks, for fuel, and protection from radiation. Water makes an excellent neutron stop. But we'd have to get him in there, somehow, and then chain him in there…in such a way that he couldn't break out of the tank somehow. But how to do that?"

"Professor…" Tsunaron came up to him, flanked by Kay Em. "We…" He glanced at Kay Em. "We might can help with that."

"Alright. I'll leave you to it. But we need a fallback plan. Crutch, Waylander? Prepare the shuttle. Worse comes to worse, we can use it to escape. It has a transponder, right? Good."

"I'm gonna go find Brodski," announced LaFontaine. It was happening all over again. The unkillable monster was on the loose, and the body count was rising. "Maybe together we can reroute the coolant onto him, freeze him like we did last time. But first, I'm stopping by the armory. Or at least getting a nail-gun."

The group made for their separate destinations. Stein buttonholed Mary and Jax. "Mary…I have something I need the both of you to do."

"S-sure, professor. What is it?"

"I need you two to work on the surveillance system, try to get it back up and running. If we have it, we can tell exactly where Jason is…and avoid him. And…possibly our other…guest."

"Doctor, what…what do you think it could be? I mean, a blood-drinking alien?  
Like you said, that's a little far-fetched." Mary put a hand to her head again, while Jaxon looked on at her worriedly.

"I don't know what it could be. But…well, perhaps I'd best not say…no," when he saw their faces, "that was uncalled for. Having said that, I guess I have to say now.

"I keep remembering what Brodski said about that corporal of his, Liebrowski, was his name? That he never even fired his weapon. So either what killed him was incredibly fast….

"….or it looked like someone he knew."

 _To be continued…_


	5. Chapter 5: Class Warfare

Jason X vs. The Thing: A Learning Experience

Chapter 5: Class Warfare

….

 _I don't own any part of the "Friday the Thirteenth" or "The Thing" franchises. I will dedicate this, however belatedly, to John W. Campbell, whose original story, "Who Goes There?" was perhaps one of the scariest ones I've ever read._

… _._

Chapter 5: Class Warfare.

"'Looked like someone he knew'?" Mary was incredulous. "How could a monster like that….oh." Realization dawned on her. "You mean…it could take on the appearance of…of one of us."

"Oh, shit," said Jaxon. Then he blushed, looking at Mary. "Sorry, Mary. Pardon my French."

She actually laughed, the first time in days. "It's alright, Jax." A brief hug. "I was thinking far worse."

"It would explain a lot," said the professor. "Either it can project an image of someone you know, or it can actually change shape. Either way, you don't know you're in danger, until it's too late."

"But, professor," said Jax, "where could it have come from?"

"I don't know, Jaxon. But there are legends, on Earth….Jason is a legend, but a relatively new one. There are older ones, far older ones, about creatures that stalk and kill human beings. So it's quite possible that it, or something like it, has been around for a while. Exactly what it is, and how it got here, I haven't a clue. But we have to deal with matters one thing at a time. Jason seems to be the most…active threat. This other creature…it's killed once, that we know of. But Jason's killed numerous people, and he's nowhere near finished. So…

"Tsunaron and Kay Em are going to be busy. I've a hunch I know on what. But I need the two of you to see if you can't get our surveillance system back online. It's really our only chance. Until that happens, Jason—or something—can simply pick us off, one by one.

"Waylander and Crutch are going to be getting the shuttle ready. It might also be a good idea to ready the escape pods—worst case scenario. I told them to take Kinsa with them; she's still in shock from Stoney's death, and, without something to do, could easily become unhinged. She may anyway." He thought a moment. "I might should have told them to take a tranq hypo with them."

"What about you, Professor?"

Professor Stein's expression hardened. He hated having to do this, but there was no help for it. "I'm going to see just what Ben knows about all this."

….

Jason was stalking along the corridor when the _Other_ reappeared, standing in the corridor ahead of him, barring his way. Once again, Jason studied this _Other,_ that he could not sense in the usual way, from which he sensed no fear, and no guilt.

In all appearances, it seemed to be human, but the way it moved was too smooth, too graceful to be human. It made no more sound than a shadow. Was this thing going to try to prevent him from punishing the guilty? He raised his surgical blade…

….and the creature in front of him suddenly _spat_ a globule of some viscous, colorless liquid, hitting Jason squarely in the chest….

….which _exploded,_ the force of the detonation driving Jason back against the bulkhead. He barely retained his grip on the blade.

Jason slowly got up. There was a gaping hole in his chest where the creature's expectoration had hit him. He struggled to his feet. This was going to be a bit harder than he'd originally thought….

The _Other_ changed, morphing into something like an Earthly cat, but with an unholy amount of legs. It sprang, not at Jason directly, but at the wall next to him, clung there long enough to shoot out a long, muscular tendril from a vertical, fang-filled aperture where its mouth should be. The tendril wrapped around Jason, pinning his arms to his side…

…and began to _burn_ through his clothes and his unnatural flesh. It pulled on the tendril, yanking Jason off his feet, and slamming him against the bulkhead, all the while maintaining its grip on him with the appendage. The tendril was burning through his flesh, threatening to sever his arms…he couldn't use his blade or his strength with no arms…

He pulled back, ripping away at the tendril, which withdrew. The creature bounded onto the ceiling overhead and spat another glob of something at him, this aimed at his head, and which covered his head and eyes with a sticky substance that blocked his vision.

Now the creature sprang directly upon him, and the two began wrestling, rolling back and forth. Jason appeared to be the stronger, but nothing about the _Other_ was stable: it kept changing, adding limbs and strengthening existing ones, all the while ripping and tearing at his eyes and throat with claws and fangs that hadn't existed seconds before.

With a supreme effort, Jason tore himself away from the abomination, slamming it up against the bulkhead. It made no sound, nor did it appear to be hurt, but simply bounced and dropped to the floor, rolled, and stood up again, once again facing him in its humanoid form. Once again, the two faced each other, glaring at each other across the short distance, Jason, breathing heavily, the Other, making no sound at all. It did not seem to be breathing.

Suddenly, Jason _threw_ his appropriated blade straight into the main torso of his adversary, skewering it all the way through. But rather than responding as one mortally wounded, the Other simply smiled, as though _expecting_ such a move, and, with the fluid grace of a leopard, leaped up into an overhead accessway, carrying the blade with it. Leaving Jason to look after it, still wondering, in his own vague way, if this was the champion of the Evil Ones…

…Or his competition.

Professor Lowe was practically beside himself. One by one, his people were dying all around him. The refuge of the _Solaris_ was denied him, as was any possible way of getting rid of Jason, whether for profit or not. Right then, credits were the least of his concern.

He'd taken refuge in the lab. There had to be something in here that he could use…or, barring that, a way he could barricade himself in here…

The door crashed open. He whirled around; Jason was silhouetted in the doorway, looking even more ragged than before. Professor Lowe's horrified eyes took in the powerful form, the hockey mask…the mask seemed to symbolize an uncaring God…. "Uh, look, don't, don't hurt me, okay? I, I know people. I can, I can get you…" He paused, his breath coming in hitches as the monster moved closer. His back was up against a table. What could he offer this thing? "I, I can get you anything you want. Just, just don't…" But Jason's gaze was fixed on the table behind him. Professor Lowe looked around.

On the table behind him was Jason's original machete. Jason reached around a flinching Professor Lowe, and grasped his weapon. Suddenly, he felt whole again, in spite of his horrific wounds. He stepped back, hefting the machete, refamiliarizing himself with his old friend.

Lowe felt giddy with relief. So that was all! Jason just wanted his machete back! "Hey! It's alright! He just wanted his-*" At which point his head flew from his shoulders, a surprised expression still on his face…

….

Stein surveyed the carnage. He'd arrived too late; Lowe had joined the departed. _But this was clearly Jason's kill,_ he thought. Not…the other. He touched his communicator. "Tsunaron? I'm afraid Professor Lowe is no longer with us. How are things on your end?"

" _Coming along well, Professor. Just a few more modifications…."_

Rowan LaFontaine had found a seriously injured Major Brodski on level 4. In his desperate battle with the creature, he'd taken a hard fall, and one leg appeared to be broken. "Be careful, doc. Something….that _something else_ the Prof spoke of…it's down here. It got Davis." He was clearly in pain. "Don't know…if it's still…around…"

Slinging the pulse rifle she'd liberated from the armory over her shoulder, she tried to lift him. No good; he was too heavy. She managed to move him into a more secluded spot, back up against two intersecting walls. "That's the best I can do for right now," she said. "I'll have to come back with someone. You be okay here till then?"

"As…okay as…anywhere." No point in telling her just how "un-okay" it was, she was doing her best. "Doctor, you…should've seen that thing…I'm sure it didn't come from Earth." His face was pale from more than loss of blood. "And it… _changed_. The thing can change shape. It shrugged off my rounds like…like spitballs."

 _As if things couldn't get worse._ "Well, I'll get some of the others, and be right back." She looked back at the corner where they were. There were no openings overhead. "Whatever it is, it can't go through solid walls." _I hope._ "We'll get you back…"

"Doc…before you go…give me that sidearm." He gestured with his head towards the pistol she was carrying.

"What? Why? If your rifle won't stop it…"

"Not…for the thing. But…if it shows up again…" He drew a deep breath. "I'm not goin' out like Davis." His eyes took on a horrified look. "He was _still alive_. It wanted him _alive._ "

"Don't talk like that. We will beat this thing. _And_ Jason. Just hang on."

But she left him the pistol.

…

"What the _hell_ happened here?" Waylander and Crutch had come upon the scene that resembled a scene from a tiny war. There were spots _burned_ into the walls and floors, and a horrific odor hung in the air. The floor itself was torn in several places, and there were deep scorings on the walls, with some parts of them, whole chunks ripped loose.

"Look!" Waylander pointed at something over by a corner: a small silver object. "What th'?"

"Is it him? It is, isn't it?" Kinsa screamed hysterically, shrinking back, her fear evident on her face.

"No, no, Kinsa, calm down. It's just a…" He cautiously picked up the silver object by its extreme end. It was a handle made of metal, with the deeply pitted remains of a blade jutting from one end. "Uh, well, what is it?"

"Jason took that saw from the morgue," mused Crutch. "This looks like what's left of it."

"'Left of it'? What _happened_ to it?"

He took the piece from Waylander, turned it over in his hands, careful to avoid the charred area. "Looks like it was dipped in some powerful acid or something. But who's throwing acid around here?" They looked at each other, each one of them thinking the same thing: _probably not Jason._ Jason wouldn't have destroyed his own weapon. "C'mon, we gotta get to that shuttle."

"Could…could that…that _other_ thing have done this?" _Why?_

"Well, it's a certainty _we_ didn't. I don't think we even _have_ any acid this powerful on board. Here." He wrapped the bit of metal in a cloth and handed it to Kinsa, who was still on the verge of panicking.

She shied away from the cloth. "I don't wanna touch it!"

He reached over and took her hands in his. "C'mon, Kinsa. It's alright, it's just a piece of metal. Just don't touch the burned part. Now come on, buck up. We gotta get that shuttle ready." He clasped his hands around hers, briefly. "We'll find a way to beat these things. Just…hang on, okay?" His words penetrated her panic, calming her somewhat. "Now hold onto this. We'll have Kay Em examine it, and that'll tell us something about our other monster." He turned to Waylander. "I don't know what this means…maybe they both killed each other. We can hope."

"Why would this monster fight Jason, though? Think it was trying to eat _him_?"

"No clue. But for some reason, I kinda doubt it."

…

Level 4: Major Brodski had managed to pull his legs up underneath him, giving him a bit more defensible posture. He'd narrowly escaped the jet of liquid nitrogen when it had spewed into the corridor; otherwise his legs could have gone the same way as Adrienne's head.

"Here, Major." Rowan LaFontaine appeared, making him jump. _Waytago, Carl. Just let somebody sneak up on you. Good thing it's human, for once._

He looked up at her. "Thought you were gonna bring help?"

She sighed, and pulled a large piece of cloth around. "It's a madhouse up there. They can't spare anyone. I'm gonna improvise a sling. I believe I can drag you with this. But first, let me look at this leg." She felt around on it, making him wince. "Yeah, looks broken." She looked up at him, pulling a first-aid kit around from her waist, pulled out a hypo, and shot its contents into his leg. He felt the pain diminish. "We've gotta get you outta here. You're needed." She produced a hard plastic splint, and proceeded to quickly and professionally tie up his broken leg.

"Fat lot of good I can do like this," he grumbled. "But anything that gets me outta here and back into the fight gets a big 'amen' from me." He shifted, putting the pistol down to the side, trying to take the weight off his injured leg.

She knelt down beside him, reaching around him with the cloth. "That's the spirit. Now here. Everything's gonna be fine. Just let me get this…"

Then he noticed a peculiar sensation in his chest. Looked down to see her arm…

….melding into his chest. Rather than hurting it felt strangely numb, as though the nerves there had been numbed with Novocain. He felt his limbs growing heavy with paralysis. "What…?" He looked up into her face in shock. He didn't even see the other tendrils extruding from her body, merging with his. "Doc…tor?"

"It's alright, Major." Rowan LaFontaine's face smiled down at him. "Like I said, you're needed."

 _To be continued…_


	6. Chapter 6: Suspicion

Jason X vs. The Thing: Chapter 6: Suspicion

….

 _I don't own either the "Friday the 13_ _th_ _" franchise, nor "The Thing." But once again, I'd like to belatedly dedicate this story to John W. Campbell, whose short story, "Who Goes There?" was the inspiration for three movies thus far. If you haven't read it, do so. But read it with the lights on. In the daytime. I'm not kidding._

…

Chapter 6: Suspicion

Doctor LaFontaine joined the others in the lounge. They'd taken to leaving heavy bits of furniture lying around with an eye towards barricading the doors should the need arise. The lounge itself had been stocked with food and water supplies, and could provide them with a reasonably defendable position…or at least, so they hoped. Privately, some of them were not so sure, but kept their fears to themselves. As LaFontaine came in, Mary did a double-take. "Doctor? You look…"

She nodded. "I'm afraid Major Brodski won't be joining us." She drew a deep breath. "I had to go leave him, to find some way of moving him. I found some old bedsheet I thought I could drag him with…but when I went back to get him, he was gone."

"How did he die? Was it Jason?"

She shook her head. "No. There was no body. He was just _gone._ There…he was just gone. And he was injured, so I'm pretty sure he didn't leave under his own power. Plus, he left this." She produced the pistol she'd left him. "Unfired. So was his rifle." She gestured over her shoulder, at the extra rifle she was carrying. "I don't see him as leaving either one behind to go on a stroll.

"I think something…came for him."

"But…what happened to his body…?"

Professor Stein was just then entering the room. "What's this? There's been another death?"

"Pretty sure there has been, Jonathon. I went back for Major Brodski, and…" she gestured helplessly. "He…wasn't there. Like I was telling them, he was injured, so I doubt he left under his own power."

Professor Stein was turning the pistol over in his hands. "Unfired. Just like Leibrowski's."

"He said he saw it, said it changed shape. But…"

"But what?"

She hesitated. Some of the others, Kinsa especially, might not need to hear this, but knowledge is power. "I'm not sure if…these two attacks are completely related. I mean, yes, they were done—we're guessing—by some alien life-form, that's _not_ Jason. In fact, it may even be…inimical to him, for some reason." She filled him in on the battle scene in the corridor. "Kay Em is analyzing what's left of the blade. But evidently  something gave Jason a run for his money; why, we don't know. It cost him his weapon. But Brodski's whole body was taken, not just his blood. So, I'm asking myself:

"Was this the same creature? Or another one?"

….

 _Things are going from worse, to Armageddon,_ thought Jaxon. Kinsa's mental state was clearly deteriorating, had been ever since Stoney's death. "No, _no, no!"_ She began screaming hysterically, standing there in the middle of the lounge.

Stein went over to her, put a hand on her arm. "Come on, Kinsa. Calm down. This isn't getting us anywhere…" But she continued to scream and cry. He looked around at the others for help, but they were looking on, too shocked to move. Even Rowan stood back, a confused expression on her face. Completely inexperienced in matters such as these as they were, they stood frozen, unable to decide what to do. They'd never seen anyone come so completely apart like this before.

And some of them might be about to do the same.

He sighed inwardly. There was no help for it. He reached out and pulled a screaming Kinsa in close, gently crushing her against his chest, and just held her, talking low and soothingly to her, while she continued to scream and pound on him with her fists. He just held her there, while the others looked on in astonishment, holding her, soothing her, not letting her run off or hurt herself. "Kinsa. Listen to me. Just listen.

"I know you're scared. We all are. _But you aren't alone in this._ You're surrounded by friends, friends who'll do everything in our power to, to get us all through this, and to protect you. We _all_ will. So just understand that: _you aren't alone. You aren't alone. We're here with you. All of us. You aren't alone."_ He kept repeating that.

After a few minutes of this, she began to calm down, her hysteria having spent itself. She lay against his chest, sobbing and hiccupping. He gave her a handkerchief. "S-sorry, Professor, I, I…" She blew her nose and wiped her eyes.

"That's alright, Kinsa. Believe me, I understand." He smiled slightly, letting her go a little, but keeping his arm around her. "I think the only reason I'm not in the same way is, I'm too scared.

"All things considered, if you _weren't_ scared, there'd be something wrong with you."

She blew her nose again. "I, I feel like such a, a I-don't-know-what…" _What must I look like to the others?_

"You just needed to get this out of your system, Kinsa. You'll be fine." He released her, and turned to the others, who were staring at him. _Why?_ "Janessa?" Janessa started upon hearing the sound of her name. "Here. Stay with her, would you? Crutch, Waylander? What's the status of the shuttle?"

"Uh, it…it's as ready as we can get it, uh, sir."

"Did you check on the escape pods?"

"Yes, sir. All of 'em are functional."

"Good." He glanced at Janessa, who was still talking low with Kinsa, reassuring her. He turned to Mary, who was still looking at him, eyes wide. Why was she doing that? "Mary? Are you alright?"

"I…yes, Professor. Professor, that…that was…amazing."

"What was?"

"How you helped Kinsa. How did you know what to do? I mean, I, I didn't know what to do…."

He waved it off. "One word, Mary: grandchildren. Most of you are young enough to be mine, anyway.

"But we have to keep moving, keep planning. As it stands, Mary, you're the closest thing we have to a medic. Are you up for that?"

Mary blinked. But… "I guess I'll have to be, Professor. Why?"

He had turned away from Janessa and Kinsa, but his stance included the others. He signaled for them to gather in close. "What Rowan said….when I found Ben's body, his….head was missing. I don't mean just missing from his torso; it was missing, completely. I know; I looked." He closed his eyes briefly, in pain. "I didn't want my old friend to be buried…like that. But I couldn't find it. I thought, at the time, that Jason had taken it. There's indications that he's not above taking trophies.

"But now I don't believe that's what happened."

Jaxon looked uneasy, from his post by Mary. He'd already guessed what was coming. He seldom left her side, whenever she was around, and his stance was clearly a protective one. Stein smiled a carefully concealed smile at the sight. Jaxon couldn't be more obvious, yet he probably wasn't even aware of it. _Just tell her how you feel, boy. You might be surprised at the response._ "Professor…What, exactly, are you getting at?" _May as well give it to us raw._

"Brodski's whole body was apparently taken. I'm thinking Ben's head was, too. I'm wondering if our alien menace needs that genetic makeup for some reason. Dr. LaFontaine said Brodski said it changed, that it's a shape-shifter. It might, conceivably, be able to make use of the genetic structure of humans to…learn to imitate humans. Or…or for information. It might be able to read the information stored in the brains of those it…consumes. That might account for its ability to pass itself off as human so completely."

"You mean it _feeds_ on our _brains?"_

"No, not as such. But it can—maybe- 'read' the information stored within the human brain, gaining knowledge of how we act…and interact. All the better to pass itself off as one of us.

"But that's actually good news. If this creature was using some sort of mental projection, a kind of telepathy, we'd essentially be throwing up our own illusion, based on what we expected to see. That it has to actually change its own shape, act in a different way, means it can make mistakes.

"We just have to catch it making one."

"Doc…what about what Dr. LaFontaine said, about it might not be the same creature? Maybe there's another one, a third monster on board?" Janessa asked, joining them. Kinsa was calmer now, her previous panic having spent itself. Jaxon moved even closer to Mary upon hearing this, Stein noticed, with another concealed smile. If he got any closer, he'd be joined to her at the hip.

"Let's not borrow trouble, Janessa. I'm trying to think, right now, of some way to be able to determine who's who. After all, worst-case scenario—but I want to stress that's _all_ it is," and here he glanced sideways at a still shaken Kinsa—"the monster _might_ could duplicate one of us so completely that it could be standing right in our very midst, and we'd never know." He saw their faces pale, but Rowan LaFontaine just nodded, as though finding confirmation for a thought she'd already had. "Mind you, I don't think that's a strong possibility. Surely something this far removed from humanity… But it never hurts to take precautions. And with the security system still down…" He turned to Mary. "Mary? Are there any, any subcutaneous transponders in the medlab? We could each have one implanted in us, and that would at least give us something to go on."

She frowned, trying to remember. "There should be. Yeah, I remember seeing those. Oh, _why_ didn't think of that _before?_ " And she led them on down to the lab.

She keyed in her door combination, stepped in…and gasped. "Mary?" asked Professor Stein, coming in just behind her, "what's—oh."

Because the medlab was a shambles. The various high-end autodocs had been smashed or melted, the medical supplies destroyed, the instruments either broken, twisted into useless shapes, or melted themselves. Mary practically leapt over to the drawer that had contained the medical transponders…

Nothing. The transponders hadn't been just destroyed; they were gone. There were none left.

"I'm afraid this ups the ante," said Professor Stein, grimly.

….

"I repeat," said Jaxon, "oh, shit."

Mary turned to Stein. "Professor?"

He shook his head. This just kept getting worse and worse. "Janessa?" he spoke softly to her, "Take Kinsa and go find Tsunaron and Kay Em." He looked back at the melted, twisted remains of the medical equipment. "See if they have anything down there that could double as backup medical equipment. We'll….some of us may well need medical attention, and soon." He leaned close in to her ear. "And don't let Kinsa out of your sight. I'm afraid she may come unglued again."

"Right, Professor."

He looked at the remains of the medlab. Of course it had contained a lot of delicate equipment, but still…whoever, whatever had done this had obviously possessed enormous strength. He turned back to the others, who were looking to him for leadership. Was he ready for this? But who else was there? "This…confirms a theory of mine. Unfortunately, it…doesn't really help a whole lot."

"The thing's not just some monster. It's intelligent." Rowan's face might as well have been set in stone.

"Exactly. Here, for example. It apparently out-thought us. It knew we'd seek some means of telling who's who, and evidently considered that a threat to its…plans. Which not only indicates that it _can_ duplicate one of us, but that it _intends_ to. That's not just animal instinct; that's a tactical maneuver. An intelligent tactical maneuver

"In light of that, I think we have to make every effort to not be alone. At any time. Everybody go everywhere in twos, at least." He looked around at them. "That's no guarantee, no sure-fire cure-all, but I'm afraid we'll have to consider anyone who goes somewhere alone—or has gone somewhere alone—to be…a suspect." He paused. "The problem is, that includes almost all of us." The others nodded, faces still pale. All of a sudden, Jason had taken a back-burner. The worst he could do was kill them.

"I'm afraid it…it includes me," said Mary softly, not looking up. Jaxon looked at her in surprise…and shock. "I mean, when that soldier, Liebrowski, was attacked, I was asleep in my room. Alone, of course. _I_ know I was asleep, but I can't prove that."

But Stein was looking at her oddly. "Mary…you were with me then. I needed your higher security clearance to look up Jason's file. That's how we found out he is _the_ Jason of Earth legend. You'd just barely gotten to sleep when I came to get you. Don't you remember?"

She stood there, confusion on her face. "I…I don't remember that at all. How…how could I forget something like that?"

He shook his head. "I still maintain it's stress. We're all under a lot. But…well, we'll just have to see. Maybe once all this is over and done with, it might be a good idea to check in for a full scan. But we need to survive long enough to do that. Let's go see what Tsunaron and Kay Em have for us."

…

"Three words: hoe lee shit." Tsunaron was holding the ruins of the blade with a pair of tongs.

"I've heard more comforting summations," said Rowan. "Maybe you could go into a bit more detail? Preferably helpful."

Tsunaron gestured at the blade handle. "I analyzed both this and the burns on the wall and floors at the battle scene. This," he indicated the handle, "was melted by some powerful acid, something like sulphuric acid or aqua regia. Strong, yeah. But…Kay Em and I found evidence of flouroantinomic acid at the site." His expression was very sober. "Somebody's _definitely_ not screwin' around."

Jaxon looked puzzled, as did the other students. Only Mary, Stein, and Rowan seemed to know what he was talking about. Mary had paled even further at Tsunaron's words. "Aaand…this flouroantinomic acid is, like… extremely bad news?"

"It's called a 'superacid,' and with good reason. It's quite possibly the most corrosive substance we know of, this side of fusing hydrogen nuclei. It makes all the other acids look like….well, like water by comparison." He glanced at Kay Em. "And…speaking of water….it reacts violently when it comes into contact with water. In fact, it actually _detonates._ "

"And Jason drowned…." Muttered LaFontaine. "So…water. Jon, this is pointing more and more to an intelligent entity on board this ship. There's got to be some way we can, we can use that."

"I fail to see how. You're not seriously suggesting we attempt to communicate with the thing, are you?"

She shook her head. "No…yes…I don't know. But…the creature that attacked and killed those soldiers…sounded more, more like an animal or something. This, this acid-flinging other creature…it sounds more intelligent, Jon." Her eyes widened as she looked at him. "Do you realize this could be humanity's first contact with an intelligent alien?"

He looked thoughtful, arms crossed there in the lab. The others looked on, following the conversation as best as they could. "That's…as may be. But, Rowan, you remember what the three possibilities about alien contact are, don't you?"

She nodded. "I know. First, and most likely, it may—make that probably would—be hostile to us, in some way. Not just 'War of the Worlds' type hostile, but…. But, yeah. Another is that it might, conceivably be friendly." She shrugged. "I guess it could happen." She paused. "But the third…."

"….it could be so alien to us that it might not recognize us as alive, or intelligent," finished Professor Stein.

"You think we're facing that here?"

"Whatever this…thing is, I think it's safe to say it recognizes us as being alive. As prey, maybe, but alive. But does it realize we're intelligent? Again," he gestured in the general direction of the ruined med lab, "evidence points to yes.

"But that just means it's clearly hostile. That, and the fact that it recognizes us as alive and intelligent, really only makes matters worse." He thought, sighing in resignation. This was something he'd debated with colleagues in the past.

One of them had been Braithewaite Lowe. Stein closed his eyes momentarily, remembering his old friend.

"It's also entirely possible," he said, slowly, "that even if it does recognize us as alive and intelligent, its own nature may render it so completely foreign to us, as to make no real difference in our…relations. I mean, if humans found a way to communicate with, with cattle, or chickens, or any other food animal, would it necessarily change their status? After all, _humans_ have hunted and exterminated intelligent species before. Look what happened to the whales in Earth's oceans. And we knew they were intelligent. For that matter, humans are no stranger to genocide even among our own kind."

"So…are we talking about one alien, or two?"

He breathed a deep sigh. "I don't know. For a certainty, we're facing a predator, and I don't mean Jason. But…perhaps we'd best deal with one thing at a time." He turned to Tsunaron, nodding towards the heavily modified Kay Em 14. "Are you two ready?"

They looked at each other, man and android. "As ready as we'll ever be."

"Alright." Rowan turned towards the others. "Then stay together. Jon and I are gonna have words with Jason."

"Dr. LaFontaine." Mary spoke up for the first time since Kinsa's outburst. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but maybe you'd better not."

"Huh? Why not? I'm sure we can lure him into-*"

"It isn't that." She squared herself, looking the older woman in the eyes. "By your own admission, you were the last person to see Major Brodski alive."

Understanding broke over LaFontaine's face. "Oh. I…see, Mary. And…yes, I see your point. None of you know if I'm…me or not. Right?"

"I'm not trying to insult you, doctor, it's just-*"

But Rowan LaFontaine simply smiled, albeit bleakly, and put a hand on the younger woman's arm. "Mary, I completely understand. If I had just thought about it, even for a moment, I would've seen where you were coming from. Yes." She turned to Stein. "She's right. Until we get some sort of certain test, you—none of you—know for a fact that I am who I say I am. So…we'll…." She thought furiously, "…we'll just have to come up with something else."

Now Stein turned to Mary. "Mary, you raised a valid point, as did you, Rowan. We need some way of determining which of us is human.

"Until we have that, this could easily be the point where we begin to turn on each other."

 _To be continued…_


	7. Chapter 7: Traps

Jason X versus the Thing: A Learning Experience

Chapter 7: Traps

….

 _I don't own either the Friday the Thirteenth or the Thing franchise. I would, however, heartily recommend all who read this to check out the story that started it all: John W. Campbell's "Who Goes There?" You won't be sorry._

 _I take that back. You might be._

… _.._

Jason was stalking along the corridor, his eternal thirst for vengeance driving him on. There; up ahead, he sensed a group of the Evil Ones, the ones whose actions had led to his death, and his mother's death.

Or ones like them. It really didn't matter.

Jason's own thoughts were not like those of a human. He really had no higher cognition ability, beyond enough to find, trap, and kill his prey. He'd never needed anything else. In his long years of punishing the guilty, he'd always relied on his strength, indestructibility, and an uncanny, unconscious ability to sense opportunity. So it never really occurred to him that the gathering of prey up ahead could conceivably be a trap…a trap set for him.

There: the Evil Ones were grouped by a solid bulkhead. Jason didn't think in those terms, of course, but he recognized a "dead end" when he saw one. They could not get away from him there.

He rounded the corridor, already hefting his machete. He'd taken the time to sharpen the blade with a piece of steel he'd found. A good craftsman always takes care of his tools.

There; at the end of the corridor. His prey huddled together, looking at him in fear. Jason didn't care if they feared him or not. The only thing on his mind was killing them.

Just as he strode forward, however, a figure stepped confidently from the shadows. "Hey, asshole. Wanna dance?"

…

Professor Stein had detailed Mary and Jaxon, assisted by Kinsa and Janessa, to use the equipment in the makeshift lab to try to come up with a test that would determine whether a human….was human. Kinsa was still clearly on edge, and Janessa didn't leave her side. But with the direction of the others, their closeness and reassurance, she was coping.

"Mary? What've you got? Anything?" Jax whispered to her. He was still uneasy about Kinsa. In an ideal situation, she really should have been sedated, and put in her room, until such a time as matters calmed down somewhat. That wasn't possible right now.

Mary shook her head. "Not much. There are certain genetic markers that I'm looking for. This thing, whatever it is, _can't_ copy us so completely as fool even these tests. If it can, then it basically _is_ human, and we're all….well, neck deep in…in trouble."

"How could a thing like this be, though? I mean…come to be?"

"No telling, Jax. If it's alien, it may come from some completely and utterly different evolutionary environment. Or, conversely, it may be…" and here her eyes took on a faraway look. "It may be a representative of a culture so far advanced from us that it would, for all intents and purposes, be like…magic." She smiled at him. "I remember you telling me about your grandmother's stories. Maybe this…is something like that. _Not_ magic, I mean. But….lightyears ahead of us, scientifically. Who knows?" Again that faraway look. "They may have discovered the ultimate secrets of biology, chemistry. And, and maybe other sciences as well. In fact, they _must_ have. Maybe…maybe they aren't all separate individuals, even. Maybe they're…connected some way, back on their home world, so that they're all, or can be, essentially one being. That…that would be kinda awesome, don't you think?" She looked at him, her gaze momentarily focusing back into the present. "I mean, just imagine what they could have learned, the knowledge they could have, the wisdom…" Her voice was hushed, as if she were talking to herself.

He took her hand in his. "Maybe so. Maybe it is awesome…for them. But…I like being me too much to give that up, least ways right now. And, and." He gulped so audibly that she looked at him. "And…I want to, to…" Mary's clear brown eyes seemed transfixed upon his. _Dear God, what do I say now?_ "I, I…oh, shit, I don't know what to say…"

She reached up and stroked the side of his face tenderly, a smile on her face. One single tear coursed its way down the side of her face. "Oh, Jax. I…I know. I've…I've known for some time now. And…and I, I…" She drew back and squared her shoulders. "We'll have to talk about this later, okay? I mean, right now, we're fighting to survive. There'll be time for this later.

"But just for the here and now…" And here, she put her arm around his neck and drew him down to her, and kissed him.

….

The rattle of automatic weapons fire thundered throughout the closed corridor, and the students who'd huddled at one end covered their ears. Tsunaron had upgraded Kay Em with an on-board heavy-gauge pulse rifle, and the tiny, superconductive pellets, wrapped in their tightly compressed magnetic fields, were ripping away at Jason's unnatural flesh. Such rounds were all that could be used in the close confines of a starship; conventional gauss slugs, with their greater momentum, could easily puncture the bulkheads, depressurizing the ship.

Jason was blown back against the wall, the slugs chewing away at his limbs. His machete was ripped away, blown off down the corridor, as was his right arm and left leg. The rounds chewed unmercifully into his head, blasting apart his hockey mask and ripping away part of his skull.

And Jason Voorhees flopped back onto the floor and lay still.

Kay Em stopped firing, but no one approached the fallen monster. They'd all heard the stories, the legends, by now. They knew better than to give Jason the benefit of any doubt whatsoever.

Warily, Kay Em and Tsunaron approached the fallen killer. Jason made no move; Kay Em's remote sensors could detect no vital functions. But she knew that meant nothing. Jason had been "dead" before…and he always came back. "Okay, how're we gonna do this?" She turned to Tsunaron. The others, Janessa, Kinsa, Rowan, Crutch and Waylander were just then joining them. Almost all the entire remaining ship's compliment had had to take part in the trap. Otherwise, the reasoning went, Jason might have gone for someone else, and not fallen into the trap they'd laid with Kay Em. They all knew he had a history of doing the unpredictable.

Tsunaron thought. "Didn't I see some of those smartcables down in the shuttle bay? We can use those to wrap them around him without getting too close. Then…maybe something like a whole bunch of chains…"

Janessa spoke up. She was still keeping an eye on Kinsa. "I hate to say it, but this all seems…too easy."

"Too right. That's why we're taking no chances. Crutch, you and Waylander get those ties." Off they went. The others stood there, watching Jason, who still hadn't moved.

"Janessa's right, Tsunaron," said Kay Em. "This _is_ too easy." She looked at her fallen adversary. "How are we gonna secure him? I don't care if he was divided into six equal pieces, I still don't trust him."

"Like Professor Stein said, he seems to calm down in water. Maybe we can use one of the water tanks to hold him."

"Just not the one we drink from, please." Janessa made a face. Kinsa actually laughed a bit, something Tsunaron noticed. _Maybe she's getting better._ He hoped so. She'd gone through so much…he looked back at Jason, and pure hatred flared within him. Why? Dammit, _why?_ There was no reason for this, this reanimated corpse to come after them! What had _they_ ever done to _him?_

Crutch and Waylander returned with the smartcables. Standing a ways back, they sent the cables in Jason's direction, and twisted the control handles to make them wrap around him securely. They weren't as strong as chains, but perhaps they'd hold him long enough. "Okay, now…where can we put him while we get the tank ready?"

The lab: Mary and Jaxon were still searching for the genetic markers that would enable them to determine who was…what. "This can't be right," muttered Mary.

"Why so?" Professor Stein came up.

"Because I'm getting too many false positives." She looked up from the microscope and rubbed her eyes. "According to this, _nobody_ on board is human. That can't be true."

"Perhaps you need to search for a different set of markers," he suggested.

"I'm trying, Professor. I'm trying." Jaxon looked on, worriedly. The technical language they were speaking was beyond him, of course, but he could tell Mary was reaching the limits of her endurance, not so much physically as emotionally.

"Mary?" Professor Stein was also looking at her worriedly. Jaxon could tell he'd noticed her exhaustion as well. "Maybe you should take a break."

"I can't, Professor. I mean, we _have_ to have this test, otherwise we'll be like you say, turning on each other. We've gotta find-*"

He held up a hand. "Yes, I agree. But the equipment in here really isn't designed for medical purposes. It could be skewing your results." He thought. "I seem to recall that the shuttle bay has a repair feature, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," said Jaxon, glad to be able to contribute for once. "It's nanite-based, but I think I heard somebody say it's offline. Do you think we could use it?"

"Maybe. Why don't you and Mary go see about getting some of that tech up here. That repair feature—especially if it's nanite-based—may be able to recreate at least some of our med lab. After all, it's designed to repair machines, isn't it? So if we could program it…"

"Yeah…" He nodded slowly. "I see where you're coming from. Yeah, I could program 'em to repair the instruments here. 'Course, they couldn't replicate the supplies, the drugs and stuff, but they could be persuaded to repair or replace our equipment. That's what they're for, after all."

"Good. Why don't you two go get those elements, and that way, we'll be better prepared. Plus, we could easily end up needing medical equipment."

"Professor…" Mary looked up, the muscles of her face relaxing as she shifted gears. To Jaxon, that was already improvement; both he and Stein could tell she was needing a break. "Worst case scenario…what then?"

He was silent for a minute. Then, "Let's not borrow trouble. But maybe…just maybe we're looking for a solution that's too high tech. Maybe something…a little more primitive is called for."

"Like what?"

Silence. Then, "I don't know." Then he straightened up. It wouldn't do to let these young people see just how he really felt about their chances. "But there is one encouraging thing out of all this: the creature still is hiding itself. It hasn't come right out into the open. Perhaps that means it knows we could kill it…if we could just pinpoint it

"What about you, Professor?" There was no one else in the lab with them.

He smiled. "I'll be okay here. I'll just keep the door closed. I can manage. You two go on."

Down in the shuttle bay: "Here they are." Jaxon was prying at a circuit board. "This circuit controls the repair feature. Well, it's one of the ones that controls the nanites. The big stuff…" He glanced up at the armatures and robotic welding and repair units. "…maybe we can use that, but for right now, we need the delicate stuff." He found and disconnected the routers for the nanites. "Take some of these babies…yeah, they'll do nicely."

"What, exactly, will they do?" Mary looked on, uncomprehendingly. She knew her way around a bio lab with her eyes blindfolded, but this was outside her area of experience.

"These nanites," he gestured towards the cylinders he held, "are what those boards control. I install those same boards in the computer in the lab, program 'em to detail the tiny little bots to repair and restore our stuff, and then we just sit back and watch it happen. Easy as that. You'll see."

Another smile. "Oh, I don't doubt you, Jax. I just haven't used nanites that much before. Guess I've had my nose in biology and bio studies for so long, machines are strange to me." She looked up. The shuttle in the bay took up most of the space, but there was room for access machinery, forklifts, and handling machines, such as might be needed to unload cargo. "Perhaps I've been too single-minded."

He flushed slightly, thinking how much he liked that very thing about her, uncertain how to continue. "Well, anyway…and this won't take away anything from the bay's restorative capabilities, either. These other circuit boards have a redundancy factor built it; they'll sense the removal of these two, plus the nanites, so they'll immediately begin to replace what's lost." He looked around fondly. This was his element, his field of study. A bit of a nerd by nature, machines had always fascinated him. And they were safer than girls. Not nearly as satisfying, but safer. "Nanites are really awesome. I mean, tiny little robots that build and repair stuff, all on their own. You mentioned me telling you about my grandmother's stories…I bet if she could see this place, she'd call it magic. Technological magic."

"There's an old saying: 'Any technology, sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic.'" She smiled back at him. "We do live in wondrous times."

"Yeah," he said, and paused. "A-and, I, I wanna keep on living in 'em…with….with you." _There. I finally said it._

She paused, herself. Then she came up to him, looking him squarely in the eyes. _Please, God, if You're out there, don't let her tell me to drop dead._ Then, just as seriously, she took the cylinders and boards out of his arms and laid them on the floor. She came up to him, put her arms around his neck, and drew him into a long, long kiss. "Jax…" she breathed in his ear, "me, too."

…..

Back in the improvised med lab: Jonathon Stein was going over Mary's experiments. She'd been using a genetic sample to compare against those taken from the crew. His own experience guiding him, he carefully reviewed her notes, going over them in great detail.

Ah. There was the problem. Just like he'd thought.

Now, what to do about it?

…..

The kiss was long and breathtaking. Jaxon would remember later that he wished it would never end. It seemed like his whole life had been leading up to this one point: kissing Mary. Even if Armageddon was raging all around them, right then, they were both in their own little pocket of the world.

She broke gently apart. "Jax…I…oh, I don't know all the words, so I'll just say it. I love you, Jax. I know this is one hell of a place and time for that to come out, but…"

"Mary." He hugged her close. "I don't care if it's heat death of the universe. I'm just glad it did." They stood there, holding each other as close as it was physically possible, both of them yearning for an even more intimate embrace….

….and then, very unwillingly, broke apart. There was work to do, lives to save. But later….

…..

It was a happy couple that made their way back to the lab. However, the first thing they saw caused the bottom to drop out of their world. Again. "Professor?"

His expression was more sober than any they'd seen so far. "I found out why you were getting all those false positives, Mary. I'm afraid it isn't good news."

"Do they still make such a thing as good news?" wondered Jax. "I haven't heard of any in so long…"

"Well, I should clarify that. It's not as bad as it could be, I guess." He turned back to the table with Mary's equipment on it. "I went over your notes, Mary, just to see if there had been any mistake or confusion. There wasn't. Your procedure was flawless. So I ran a few tests myself, just to be sure. Sometimes, two researchers can get different results even using the exact same procedures. It's almost like voodoo.

"But I got the same results. I changed up the testing media, tried new samples. Tell me, Mary: where did you get your original comparison sample? The one you ran the others' against?"

"From one person I could unequivocally vouch for: me. That base sample came from me."

"And I ran one from me, for the same reason. Both came back positive. So either we're both aliens or there's something wrong with the tests in some way.

"Of course it's simply impossible that everyone on board is an alien. It just can't be. So I reasoned it couldn't be the samples.

"That left one common denominator: the equipment itself."

She gasped. "The equipment? But how…?"

He gestured towards the table. "Our unseen adversary is more cunning than we thought. It trashed the med supplies, yes…but these that it left, it sabotaged. Somehow or another—don't ask me how, I've examined them every way I can—it somehow managed to alter the function of the devices themselves, causing them to be unreliable." He sighed. "It's beyond me how this happened. Like I said, I've poked and probed on each piece of equipment every way I can, and they all test out normally. But every sample put through them comes up positive.

"This thing, this creature…Rowan was right. It isn't just intelligent. It's _very_ intelligent. It knew we'd try this, try a genetic sampling technique just like we did…and it prepared for it. Maybe it couldn't affect the scanners so as to show no positives—that would have made us suspicious in any case, I suppose—but it did do something, altered them somehow, so as to make them unreliable." Another sigh. "So we're back to square one."

Now Jax sighed, disappointment more than fear in his voice. "I'm glad Kinsa's not here. She'd be seeing aliens in every face."

"Indeed." His expression became thoughtful. "She really needs to be sedated until things calm down, but that's not feasible right now. We'd have to detail someone to watch over her."

"Why—oh. Yeah." He saw what the Professor was saying. Leaving any of them anywhere alone…and they couldn't spare the manpower to guard a sleeping girl right then.

"What about you two? Any luck?" The look of hope on the Professor's face brought them back to the reality they were facing. Mary reflected that this was the first time they'd seen such a look on his countenance. It reflected on how much stress he was under, himself. _Poor Professor Stein. He's got all our worries plus his own on his back._

"Yeah." Jax hefted the boards and cylinders they'd liberated from the shuttle bay. "Say." He looked thoughtful. "Maybe…let me take a look at those scanner, Professor. Maybe me and my little friends can fix 'em."

"Good idea. Mary? Maybe you could help him on that?"

…

"So how long you think it'll take to rig up that tank?" Waylander glanced nervously at the still-bound and still unmoving Jason. Just because the monster was blown to bits didn't necessarily mean anything.

"Eh, maybe three hours. Say. See if you can find any chains."

"Already looked. We don't have any."

"Damn. And they call this a research ship? Whoever heard of a research vessel without shackles? What am I saying." Tsunaron thought. Kay Em stood by, weapons at the ready, and not just for Jason. "Wait. Maybe we can stash him, temporarily, at least, in the shuttle bay. Nobody's using it right now…and, if worst comes to worst, we can blow the doors, just flush him out into space. But we might lose the shuttle." He bit his lip. "It's a gamble, but…Kay Em? Can you help Crutch and Waylander get our friend here situated?"

"My pleasure."

"Good deal."

With a lot of grunting, the three of them managed to drag the unresponsive body of their foe into the shuttle area. "I hope this is a good idea," muttered Crutch.

"It's as good an idea as any, I guess." Waylander was letting Kay Em, with her electrocybernetic muscles, do most of the work. Hey, nobody could say he discriminated against women! Even mechanical women. _Come to think of it, that may be the best kind,_ he thought. "If we can just get this lunatic in the water tank, Professor Lowe said he'd calm down. Can't figure out why the damned thing doesn't drown."

"Kay Em?" Crutch addressed the android. "What do you make of this other thing, the alien?"

She shrugged as she rolled Jason over towards the hatch. "I really have no data on such a creature. It would have to be…well, extremely different from any Earthly form of life. Like we've surmised, it has to be alien to Earth or earthlike biochemistry, and in a big way." Tsunaron, along with Waylander and Kinsa, had managed to isolate one of the smaller water tanks on the port side. As Professor Stein had said, water made an excellent, low-cost radiation stop. "But there's just no data."

Waylander stood over Jason's body. "So….what do we do with this thing until we get the tank ready?"

"That's no problem," Rowan said, "We can just dump him into the shuttle bay area. Nobody's using it right now, and it has an excellent blast door. Take a nuke to get through it. Plus, if we have to, as you said, we can just blow the thing open into space." She shrugged, her slim shoulders moving underneath the shipboard jumpsuit such as they all wore. "May be hard on the shuttle, but it's better than leaving him here, to come back to life when we least expect it."

"'Kay." _I just hope we don't need that shuttle._ But…surely they wouldn't. Jason was down; all they had to do was get the brains to figure out how to tell human from alien, and how hard could that be?

Still, a nagging feeling kept pulling at the recesses of his mind.

 _To be continued…_


	8. Chapter 8: Resurrection

Jason X versus the Thing: A Learning Experience: Chapter 8: Resurrection

….

 _Sorry for the length of this chapter, but it wouldn't go down any other way._

 _I don't own either the Friday the 13_ _th_ _or the Thing franchises._

…

Chapter 8: Resurrection

"….don't see how this thing could've corrupted the _machinery,_ " Jax was saying. "But the professor's right: if _everybody_ on board tests out as alien, then obviously, the thing's found some new way of screwing with us." He was in the midst of programming the nanites, and had set aside a work area for the equipment to be repaired. He looked up at her, standing over him as he typed in the strings of code. "Mary?"

She bit her lip. "I'm trying to understand this thing's—the alien's—motivation. I mean, yeah, I can see how those two soldiers were killed, like, for food? Or something. But why is it doing the way it's doing?"

"Well, let's see." He swiveled around on the stool, facing her. "As you say, the two soldiers were, probably, for food. I mean, I guess. But…thing is, we don't know what it did with Brodski's body, or with Professor Lowe's head."

"It must be learning about us somehow, for some reason. But why would it fight Jason?" It had become pretty clear that the alien organism had, in fact, gone toe to toe with the Crystal Lake killer. "I can't figure out a motive."

"I can," he said, gravely. "Competition. Maybe it regarded Jason as a threat to its plans. The evidence seems to indicate that it wants us alive." He grimaced. "For…food? Assimilation? Something like that."

"And Jason threatens to kill us…so naturally, it's protecting its 'flock.'" She looked as though she'd tasted something sour. "You're right, there's really no other way it could make sense." Her shoulders slumped. "I…I guess I had these hopes. Hopes that first contact would be…not like this. That we'd meet aliens who'd be….well, friendly. Or at least not regard us as an appetizer."

He put his arm around her. The nanites were busy repairing the machinery, and they'd thrown in the remains of the old, wrecked machines, so they had plenty of raw material. The combined pile was glowing and shaping up, like watching living silly putty. "Well, I don't mean to be a, a devil's advocate or anything, but maybe this isn't a typical alien. It might not even be typical of its own species."

"What do you mean?"

Shrug. "It could be its species equivalent of a serial killer. Though that would kinda be stretching it some, I mean, Jason's a serial killer, what're the odds we'd have two? But it's possible. Lightning does strike more than once. Or it could be, I dunno, damaged, or insane or something. And, like you said, maybe it's from some deep-star distant civilization and, and somehow doesn't see us as intelligent or something. Maybe…maybe if we'd met on more equal terms, you know, standard first contact scenario, meeting some ship in space, exchanging call signs, communicating…oh, I'm just running off at the mouth. But just because this thing isn't wanting to buddy up doesn't mean nobody ever will."

She smiled and leaned up against him. "Thanks, Jax. That gives me some hope."

He leaned his head against hers. "There's always hope. And personally? I really think, somewhere out there, we'll find somebody who's not a monster. Maybe a lotta somebodies, if we just hang on long enough."

….

Down in the shuttle bay, nanocircuits closed. The autorepair functions detected the missing components and began to cannibalize less critical components to replace them. The nanites controlled by those remaining circuit boards began to look abroad for raw materials to work with.

The shuttle itself provided some. But the autorepair also took note of the quiescent biological (?) life form in the bay. With its pattern recognition programs incomplete from the loss of the critical circuit boards, and with its repair function now activated, it allocated certain of its resources to the repair of the biological.

….

Back in the lounge: the others had gathered, minus Tsunaron and Kay Em, who were still working on getting the water tank ready. They had to be able to completely isolate it from the rest of the ship, and the tank wasn't designed for that. "Any luck?" Janessa asked. Kinsa came up with her. She'd been sticking pretty closely to Janessa ever since her outburst. Rowan joined them.

Mary sighed. "Not as such. Our equipment's been compromised, so we're having to rework it." She shook her head. "None of us can figure out how this thing, this alien monster, could have altered the equipment the way it did."

"There's no telling, Mary." Professor Stein came over to them. He'd been talking to Rowan, a whispered conversation none of the others could hear. "But I guess it doesn't really matter. Once we have the lab up and running again, we'll find some way to test for this thing. As you say, if it can fool all of our tests, then it basically _is_ human. And I don't see how that can be."

Rowan came over. "So what do we do in the meantime? I mean, we can't just sit here, twiddling our thumbs. We have to _do_ something."

"It's best to go in groups." He looked at Kinsa. "Right now, the only ones we know, positively, to be human…" Here he sighed, "are the ones in the morgue. But that doesn't help us."

"Uh, professor?" Jaxon spoke up, from where he'd been monitoring the nanites. Stein noticed that Mary was sticking close to him, whereas before, _he'd_ followed _her_ around, and smiled, again secretly. Young people. It took him back a ways. "I just had a horrible thought."

"Oh, no. Not another one."

"Well, it may be nothing, and it probably is. But…" he glanced at Mary, "my…grandmother used to tell us stories about monsters, monsters who preyed on humans. Sorta like this thing is."

Rowan narrowed her eyes. "Go on."

Again, Jaxon glanced at Mary. This was clearly something he wished he hadn't thought of. "I mean, vampires, werewolves, ghouls, zombies…they were all different, but they all had one thing in common. Even ghosts, now that I think of it.

"…These things hunted and killed people. But…the people they killed…came back…as one of them. A vampire victim came back as a vampire himself. The bite of a werewolf made another werewolf."

"What are you getting at?" Rowan was looking nervous. It was like she had a good idea where this was going.

" _Do_ we know for a fact that the bodies in the morgue are still there?"

Both Stein and Rowan crossed their arms, almost in unison. It was a little eerie. "That…is a good point, young man. Previously, I confess I would have dismissed that thought. But, even if nothing else, events have showed us all not to take anything for granted. We might need to take a look."

Presently, Tsunaron, Kay Em, and Stein found themselves outside the doorway to the morgue, where, not so long ago, Jason's inert body had been held captive. It occurred to Tsunaron that maybe they should have put some sort of bonds on the corpses, but how crazy was that?

Actually, he thought, given all that had happened lately, not all that crazy.

…..

Down in the shuttle bay: the automatic machinery was just finishing up repairing both itself and the biological organism which had been deposited in its sphere of influence. Just as certain components of the shuttle had been used to repair the bay itself, so, too, had some of those same components been used to repair the biological organism….

….that now rose to its feet, uncertainly at first, as it familiarized itself with its new, improved body, but gaining dexterity rapidly.

The process had been done wholly mechanically, and would have killed an ordinary human. But Jason hadn't been ordinary or human for a long time now.

Nearby was the pockmarked machete. In their haste to dispose of the body, Tsunaron and the others had dumped it in the shuttle bay area as well. The new Jason picked it up, hefted it. He wrapped some heavy cloth around the handle, and drew the blade across the steel surface of the shuttle bay door. It could be sharpened, and that would improve its efficiency.

He could really punish the guilty now.

….

Professor Stein and Rowan led the group to the improvised morgue. "Janessa? Would you, Crutch and Waylander wait out here, would you? Oh, and Kinsa, you, too." A still scared Kinsa nodded rapidly. She was altogether too happy to stay away from anything that might bite. Or worse. Stein glanced at her, worriedly. Some people, he knew, just didn't have the emotional reserves to draw upon in disaster that others did. What Kinsa was going through would give anybody post-traumatic stress disorder; in his long life, he'd seen many such cases. Fortunately, in this new day and age, there was treatment for it. _If she survives to get it._ But Kinsa couldn't be blamed for not having those reserves. _She's so young,_ he thought. _They all are._

He keyed in the door, with Kay Em standing behind him, weapon at the ready. They entered the morgue, their eyes and optical sensors adjusting to the gloom.

There were no bodies in the morgue. At all.

…..

Down below: The Cyborg Jason moved through the corridors, his old and new senses searching, searching for the Evil Ones. And, not incidentally, for the _Other._

Jason had no fear of the Other. In truth, he had no fear of anything. The closest approximation he had was a sense of dread at the thought of being submerged in water. Water was how he'd died the first time. Water….got in the way of his duty. He couldn't punish the Evil Ones if he was entrapped in water.

He had vague memories of being so trapped, and, as with so much in his hellish life, had simply accepted it as the way things were. But he knew who was to blame. And he had an appointment with them.

And with the other one, that _Other_ whom he could not sense. But that was a secondary priority to him. It was more important to punish those from whom he could sense the guilt, the Evil.

…..

"Alright," said Professor Stein, "Let's look at this logically. He'd stepped into the improvised morgue, flashing his light overhead. The others hung back, Janessa deliberately standing in Kinsa's way. The girl's fragile psych didn't need any more blows today—or ever, actually. But they still needed to know what was going on. "The bodies are gone. True. But, if Jaxon's old stories are to be taken as a basis for their disappearance….they should have left some indication of, of escape." He shone his light overhead. "There's no air duct of any size capable of admitting anything larger than a large rat, and there's no other way in…or out. And this door was locked from the outside, wasn't it, Mary?"

"Uh, y-yeah, it, it was. Remember, we had to input the code to get in, that last time when, when Adrienne…"

"Yes. So…hm." He thought. "It's possible the bodies were….just taken. This thing, this creature, must need…sustenance of some sort. We've been presuming we're it, but…it might could use just plain biomass. The bodies weren't embalmed or anything."

Jaxon breathed out a sigh of relief. "Good. If that's true, then we don't need to, to be watching our backs for any revenants."

"I doubt it. I don't think even this creature could reanimate the dead. However," he turned to the rest of them, "I imagine our next move is twofold: one, make sure the shuttle and the escape pods are in working order, and two…" He hesitated, wondering if this was really such a good idea. "And two, we need to arm ourselves. Tsunaron? Can you and Kay Em get a few of those pulse rifles from the armory?"

"Well, sure, professor, but, but I mean…what good will they do? Jason—I hope—isn't an issue anymore, and this other thing seems to shrug off bullets like candy corn."

"I know, but it's all we have at the moment. Plus," and here he leaned in closer, so that only Tsunaron, Kay Em, and Mary could hear him, "it would give us a certain measure of psychological reassurance. Don't forget sidearms. But maybe, uh, we'd better not give one to Kinsa."

…..

Tsunaron and Kay Em went to the armory, accompanied by Professor Stein, Mary, and Jax. The others had retreated back to the lounge area. "So, what have we got?" asked Professor Stein.

Tsunaron waved his hand over the weapons, locked in their places. "The pulse rifle I installed on Kay Em is a possibility, but we're running low on ammo for it. It takes a very small, high-density superconductor to hold that magnetic charge, keep it wrapped so tightly that it affects even non-metallic objects." He gestured towards another rack of weapons. "These are gauss rifles. Basically hand-held rail guns. They launch a steel sabot slug magnetically. About three thousand feet per second. They've got a lot more knockdown power than the pulse, but the momentum of the projectiles could conceivably pierce the bulkhead, in some places. That's why we don't usually use 'em. And, really, for our purposes, I don't see any significant advantage over the pulse rifles, the only thing being they're a lot easier to feed. The sabot slugs don't have to carry a charge. The downside is, increased recoil. That wouldn't be an issue for Kay Em," he said, smiling at the android woman, who smiled back, "but us mere humans would get quite a jolt."

Jax was looking the guns over in awe. He'd never actually dealt with weapons before, but they were machines, and machines fascinated him.

Plus, _these_ machines could help him keep…a certain someone…safe. _Motivation, Jax._ "Don't we have anything like…some sort of ray gun or beam weapon?"

Tsunaron shook his head. "No. Problem with those sorts of weapons is, you need a big-ass power source to make 'em effective. You can mount one on a ship, of course, run it off the engines, but the battery pack alone would weigh more than you do. And it wouldn't last long."

"Hm." Jaxon looked at the weapons arrayed around him, speculating. "I wonder….you know, if we have time, I might could come up with something."

"Yeah, it's the 'having time' thing we're all concerned about now."

….

Waylander, Crutch, and Rowan had been escorting Kinsa back to the lounge. Janessa accompanied them. In a way, she'd sort of adopted Kinsa, since she was, after all, the girlfriend of her deceased brother. And right at that time, Kinsa really needed all the comfort and assurance she could get.

Rowan spoke up. "Look. We need to prepare for a worst case scenario." She inclined her head in the general direction of the shuttle bay, "We need to make sure the shuttle is ready to go at a moment's notice."

"You really think it'll come to that, doc?"

Rowan thought. She really didn't want to discourage these youngsters too much, some of them could be on a knife's-edge of sanity as it was. Kinsa in particular. "I hope not. But you know what they say: better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."

Crutch took her aside. "Doc? What are we gonna do about Kinsa? I mean, she's really hurting."

"I'm gonna need you to watch her while Waylander, Janessa and I go to see if we can't get the surveillance systems up again. That would be a huge help. Think you can do that?"

"Well, yeah, sure." He was clearly nervous about being left alone. They all felt a certain responsibility towards the suffering girl, but he wasn't sure he was up to it. Especially with…things lurking in the background.

"Here." She unlimbered the pulse rifle from her back. "You know how to use one of these? Good. And….here." She produced the pistol she'd left for Major Brodski, in what seemed like so long ago. "Just get her into the lounge and stay with her. You hear anything, if it's just one person, or one being, it's probably not one of us. We'll be traveling in pairs, at least. So keep an eye out for that, 'kay?"

"Got it, doc."

"Good. Waylander, Janessa? Let's go see about that security cam system."

"Wait!" wailed Kinsa, "Don't leave me!"

"We're not leaving you, Kinsa," soothed Rowan. "We wouldn't do that. We're just going to see about getting the cams back online. Crutch, here, will stay with you, and he's armed. So it'll be alright, okay? It'll be just as good as it we were all here. But I need Janessa and Waylander to check on the shuttle, and help me get the security cams back. Once we have those, that thing'll never be able to surprise us again. We'll know _exactly_ where it is, and can kill it easily. It'll never know what hit it.

"So…so, it'll all be okay, okay? Just relax, rest here with Crutch. We'll be back in no time. And the Professor and the rest will be here soon, probably sooner than we will be. So you won't be alone at all." She smiled encouragingly at the terrified girl. "We won't leave you alone. Don't worry."

"Oh…okay, doctor. I, I just….hurry back, would you?"

After they'd left, Crutch moved into the lounge. "Hey, Kinsa. I know a sure-fire cure for what ails ya: ice cream. And we got it all to ourselves. Wanna pig out?"

….

Rowan led Janessa and Waylander to the backup computer system nexus. "You really believe we'll get this whole thing under control, doc?"

Rowan sighed. She looked up from her position at the console. "Yes and no, Janessa. The ship is damaged, no question about that. We can't repair it; the best we can do is try to fix the signaling system here, send out a distress beacon. And I confess I don't have much hope for repairing the security cams. It seems like something's actively interfering with it, like a virus or something." The nexus hummed, completely oblivious to its total uselessness. Waylander felt a bit of annoyance at that.

The Lounge: Crutch had filled two good-sized bowls with ice cream in all flavors, and the pair of them were presently chowing down. _Hey, brain freeze is the least of our worries, right now,_ he thought. "So, Kinsa. Ah, I mean…" He didn't really know how to proceed. "I, I just wanna let you know it'll be alright. I mean, we're all in this together, right? We're not gonna let ya down."

She was silent for a moment, stirring her ice cream. She really didn't have much appetite, although she normally enjoyed ice cream. _But how can I enjoy anything now?_ She kept seeing Stoney's dying face…he'd literally died in her arms. "I, I know, Crutch. And, and I'm sorry for, for being so weak…"

"Hey." He stopped eating his ice cream and leaned forward slightly. "You're not weak. You've just been through a lot. It's like the professor said: you just kinda….well, you're having a rough time. Everybody has rough times, but you're gettin' yours in spades. You're overwhelmed with it."

Another pause. "I, I still keep seeing that monster killing Stoney. I mean, why? We'd never done anything to him! Why would he come after-*"

"'Cause he's just a monster, that's all. But he's history. Kay Em literally blew his ass completely off. I mean, he was in, like, _pieces,_ Kinsa. I _saw_ it. Ain't no way even Jason's comin' back from _that._ "

"What about this other thing, this alien? It, it could be any of us!"

"But it's _not._ " He reached across the table and laid a finger on her wrist. She flinched, slightly. He didn't notice. "It's _not_ , and we _will_ find a way to beat it. Promise."

…

The new, improved Jason was scouring the halls for his next victims. With his enhanced senses, he could tell, with a limited degree of accuracy, where they were.

There; that large meeting area. There were two of them, eating ice cream. Eating quite a lot of it, too.

Gluttony is a sin. Sins must be punished.

…

"Alright, what have we got?" Professor Stein was hefting the large rifle Tsunaron had brought him. It looked like a standard pulse rifle on steroids. The helical magazine alone looked like it weighed as much as the smaller guns. Several smartstraps were attached to it, to enable the operator to better lift and aim the weapon. The stock itself automatically contoured itself to the wielder.

"This," explained Tsunaron, "is your standard military gauss rifle. Magnetic launching system, caseless round. Fires a three hundred grain sabot slug at very close to three thousand feet per second. At least, normally. Good thing about gauss rifles: you can dial 'em down, so we can reduce the risk of over penetration that way. That also cuts down on the recoil, which, in these babies, can be considerable.

"We don't use 'em much on board ship because of the danger of rupturing the hull. These rounds are designed to penetrate, and they do. Kay Em's gun," he nodded to the android, "and the other standard pulse rifles, shoots a much lighter slug. It gets its destructive power from being wrapped in that supertight magnetic field; cuts a sizable wound channel without too much momentum.

"But these are all we got left."

"Then these will have to do."

…..

Crutch looked up from his ice cream. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"Thought I heard something outside." He absently got up, his pulse rifle momentarily forgotten…

…and cyborg Jason smashed through the doorway into the lounge, leading with his new, improved machete.

Kinsa screamed, the high-pitched scream of one confronted with one's worst nightmare. Crutch grabbed his gun, positioned himself between the monster and the girl. "Get behind me, Kinsa!" And he opened fire.

To his dismay, the pulse slugs simply bounced off the armored form before him. "Kinsa! Get back!" He threw a table in front of them, which bought them some time as Jason was forced to smash his way through it. "Here! In the back!" There was small accessway, at knee-height, locked of course. He blasted it open, and motioned for the terrified girl to get in. "Go on! And here," he said, fumbling. He pulled out the pistol they'd given him. "Here. Take this. It may not be much, but it should give anything some second thoughts, at least." _And it's just about all I've got to give you._ "I'll stall him! Go on, you gotta tell the others he's back! Now, _go!"_

Kinsa looked from the pistol to him. _I'm sick of being the weak one._ "I can't leave you! Come on, go with me! He won't follow us through here, surely!"

"No, Kinsa." He pushed her towards the accessway. "You gotta go tell the others. I'll be right behind you." _If I can._ "Go on, now." With a long backward glance, she got down on her knees, and crawled into the accessway.

Behind her, Crutch turned to face the oncoming juggernaut. "Okay, you son of a bitch. You want me? You're gonna have to work for it!" And he unleased full-automatic fire onto the approaching form…

In the accessway, Kinsa let out a choked sob as she heard the sickening sounds of steel slicing through flesh, heard Crutch's final death-gurgle. _He sacrificed himself to save me._

 _But I'm totally worthless!_ Nonetheless, she crawled on, expecting, any second, to hear the sounds of Jason pursuing her through the narrow passageway. She'd stuck the pistol in her pocket, but she didn't have any confidence in it. If Crutch's rifle hadn't been able to stop Jason, how could this little thing?

She emerged into an empty corridor. She had no idea where she was. Frantically, she shoved the grating she pushed off back over the opening. Not that it would stop anything, of course, just a reflex.

She sat over by the far wall from the accessway, wondering how she'd find the others. Wondering how she'd find the Professor. She felt safe with him. He understood what she was going through, and didn't blame her for it. _Which is more than I can say for myself._ A sound at the far end of the corridor, where it intersected with another hallway, drew her attention.

In the back of her mind, she _knew_ it was _him._ The monster. Jason. The thing that had killed Stoney. Either that or the other thing, the _other_ monster. She grew silent, sensing that the slightest sound could bring disaster. But she was right out in the open…and all these doors were locked…

Was that something moving, just around the corner? It seemed to cast a shadow on the wall, a shadow that didn't look remotely human. Her breath hitched. Out of the frying pan… _"No!"_ She couldn't take it anymore, the constant fear, the tension, the knowledge that she _would_ die, and in some horrific manner. She raised the pistol, pointed it at her head. Just one shot, and it would all be over. No more fear, no more tension…. "Stoney…" she whispered.

"Kinsa! _NO!_ " Rowan had appeared around the same corner she'd been watching. Now Rowan ran to her, halting just in front of her. "Kinsa, no! Don't do this!"

"I…I have to, doctor. I, I can't go on like this. I just can't." The pistol hadn't wavered.

"Kinsa. Listen to me.

"I'm not saying everything's okay. But we're getting there. We've already gotten rid of Jason, now we just have to find and eliminate this alien monster. And that'll be easy once we get the system back online. So…please don't do this! We're actually winning!" And she smiled what she hoped looked like a confident smile.

Kinsa gulped, still not moving the weapon. Rowan was too far away to make a grab for it with any degree of success. "No, no, we're not. J-Jason's back, worse than before. He…he got Crutch."

" _What_? Jason's _back_? How?"

"I, I don't know. But he's, he's like, armored or something. Like he's a robot. Or, or part robot."

" _God damn it,_ " muttered Rowan. It didn't sound like a curse. "But how? He was dead on his ass in the shut-*" Her eyes widened. "The _shuttle bay._ Its repair feature must've, must've rebuilt him, somehow. But it's only designed for machines…" She turned her attention back to Kinsa, who still hadn't lowered the weapon. "Kinsa. Listen to me. I know things look bad now. But we will beat these things. We've got a plan for dealing with the alien, then we'll take out Jason. Just…stay with us a little while longer, 'kay?"

Kinsa just shook her head. "I can't go on like this, all this fighting, killing. Always being afraid. I just can't take it anymore, doc!"

"Kinsa. Please. Just…give me the gun, okay? You'll see. It'll all work out. And, KInsa, you're _needed._ " She moved a little closer.

A shake of the head. "I'm _useless._ And I know it. This, this is the only way…"

Rowan put out a hand. "No, Kinsa, please don't do this thing. Look, I know you're hurting big time. Give me the gun and I'll sedate you. It'll be all better when you wake up. I promise." Again she extended her hand. "You don't really want to kill yourself. Just…just let me help, okay?"

Kinsa hesitated a long, long moment. She really _didn't_ want to kill herself. But what other choice was there? She could still hear Crutch's death rattle. He'd died. He'd actually _died._

But how could she be needed? What did the doc mean by that?

Gradually, very reluctantly, she lowered the gun and handed it to Rowan, who took it from her. "Thank you, Kinsa. And you'll see; we _will_ beat these things. If nothing else, we can escape in the shuttle. So come on. Here. Let me check you over." And she extended her hand towards Kinsa's chest….

"Rowan? What's going on?" Professor Stein had appeared from the other end of the corridor, carrying one of the gauss rifles. Rowan jerked her hand away, almost guiltily. "Kinsa? What's happened?"

Kinsa scrambled to her feet, and rushed into the Professor's arms. "I-it's Jason. He's back, only now he's made of metal or something. He, he got Crutch."

He held her. "Crutch? Are you sure?" She nodded, her head pressed against his chest. "I h-heard him die."

Stein looked at Rowan. "I'm afraid this changes things, somewhat."

 _To be continued…_


	9. Chapter 9: Suspicions

Jason X vs. The Thing: A Learning Experience

Chapter 9: Suspicions

…

 _I don't own either The Thing franchise, nor any part of the Friday the 13_ _th_ _franchise. Wish I did._

… _._

Chapter 9: Suspicions

Professor Stein, Rowan, and Mary took Kinsa to her quarters. "Now, here, Kinsa." Mary produced a hypo full of tranquilizer. "Let me give you this." Kinsa nodded, tears still streaming down her face. The hypo hissed against her skin, and she collapsed, almost instantly. Stein picked her up and put her on her bed. "This'll have to do for now. She's just been through too much, too fast." He looked up at the ceiling. "Still no luck with the cams?" Rowan shook her head. "Damn. The only thing we can do is lock her in here." He scanned the room, noting ducts and vents. "We can close those off, block them somehow. Locked in here like this, she should be okay, as long as she doesn't leave. Mary? How much did you give her?"

"I gave her the maximum dose I could, safely. She should be out for hours."

"Hopefully, this whole thing will be solved by then. But it's all we can do, for now. Waylander? I know we're running short of people, but could you watch over her? Until we come back?

"Sure, prof-*" But he was interrupted by Rowan. "I need Janessa and Waylander to help me with the comm system, and to get the shuttle in operation. It's got to have been compromised in some way; that's the only reason it would have brought Jason back. We have to check that. Crutch is gone, and Tsunaron's with Kay Em."

"Right, right." He dithered, chewing his lip. Once again, he noticed the others all looking to him for support, guidance. _This is turning into one hell of a field trip._ He looked over the sleeping girl. Rowan had come up alongside him, also glancing over Kinsa's body. "Rowan? Earlier, in the hallway, I saw you reaching out to her chest. She wasn't wounded, was she?"

Rowan seemed to hesitate a moment. "I was going to check her heart rate. I was afraid, with all she's gone through, she might have been developing some tachycardia. And we don't have any way of treating that, right now."

He looked at her for a moment, his eyes narrowed. "Well, if we lock her in here, and no one—and nothing-comes in or out…surely she'll be okay, at least for the time it'll take to get the shuttle ready. That is doable, right?" Rowan nodded absently, still eyeing the sleeping girl. "Then we can come back for her, if need be." Another pause while he thought. "We have to draw Jason into our range of fire. I'm hoping his new-found armor plating isn't up to a few direct hits with one of these." He hefted the heavy gauge rifle, noting its weight. It was dialed up to full power. _Note to self: ask Tsunaron about armor-piercing rounds._ But he doubted any space ship would be equipped with those, for obvious reasons. It was a half miracle that they had these, at all. "We really have no choice then." One last backward look at the sleeping girl. He hated to leave her like that… "Let's go."

The survivors reconvened in the lab where Tsunaron and Kay Em had been working, remodeling Kay Em, and the gauss rifles. Over in one corner was the enclosure where the nanites were busy rebuilding their medical equipment. He'd allocated some to building more gauss rounds, using one of his for a template. It looked like they might need them.

"Alright, people. Gather 'round." Professor Stein really didn't like this role of leader, especially now, in these circumstances, but… "From what Kinsa has told us, we have two problems once again, and this time, one of them is considerably worse. Evidently, the autorepair mechanisms in the shuttle bay took it upon themselves to repair Jason, and now he's back with us, stronger than before." Waylander and Kay Em looked guilty at this; it had been _their_ idea to dump Jason into the shuttle bay. "It's nobody's fault," continued the professor, reading their thoughts, and noting a similar expression of guilt on Jaxon's face, "No one could have foreseen that those machines would repair anything other than another machine. It was purely an accident.

"We have to focus on the future. We still have two problems once again. One, the alien menace, and two, this cyborg Jason. We'll have to deal with them one at a time. Right now, with the absence of the cams, it's evident that Jason is going to be the easiest to find.

"Tsunaron? Can you upgrade Kay Em to where she could take on this new, improved Jason?"

Tsunaron shook his head. "Not sure. I can't install more weapons without totally rebuilding her from scratch. And that'd take a lot of parts and supplies we don't have, not to mention a lot of time. About the best I could do is download some sick combat moves, close quarters tactics, maybe a few retractable diamond-saw power blades. But how useful those will be against this cyborg version…I don't know."

"All right. Do what you can. Kay Em? It's looking like you might be our best hope." Then he scowled, the first time any of them had seen him do so. "Frankly, I'm getting a little tired of being the hunted. We need to come up with a way to change that.

"Rowan? What about the security system?"

"No luck. I might be able to restore communications, but it's iffy. It looks like the best I can do is get us to where we can send out a distress beacon."

"Where are we, currently, anyway?"

"We're just coming within range of Earth II's communications net. But with our own system down, we can't signal anybody for help, or even for flight or landing clearance, assuming we even _can_ land in the first place. Not that I see that as a recommendable option, right now." Stein saw heads nodding, reluctantly. It wouldn't do to put down on a populated world carrying two seemingly indestructible monsters: one, an unstoppable killing machine, and the other, an unknown but deadly alien life-form. "Professor? You look like you have a plan."

He nodded. "The glimmerings of one. If we could lure or force Jason into one of the auxiliary airlocks, we could blow it, if we could override the safety features. Eject him out into space."

"Good idea. But how?"

Professor Stein smiled a predatory smile. "We go to war."

…

In the lab: Professor Stein, Kay Em, and Tsunaron had convened a miniature strategy council. After all, it was like the professor had said: they had to treat matters as if they were at war, which, in a sense, they were. They were definitely under siege, and from two fronts. Mary and Jax had returned to the medical lab with the (hopefully) repaired scanners, to try to come up with some way of determining who was who…and who was what. Rowan, Janessa, and Waylander had once again headed for the shuttle bay, to make what repairs they could. If the shuttle could be even halfway repaired, they'd be able to use the communications array in it to contact someone on the ground. And, depending how much of it could be repaired, escape if necessary.

Tsunaron had called up the plans for the _Grendel_ on a smarttable. "Okay. Here," he pointed to the LED screen, "this corridor leads to emergency airlock number three. It's a straight shot. There's no way out, once you're in the corridor; no doors, ventilator shafts, or other exits until you get to the airlock. Now, if we could somehow contrive to get Jason into it, maybe we could force him down the corridor straight into the 'lock.

"But the fact that there's no exits along it also means there's no entrances. We'd have to somehow maneuver him into the corridor from the far end. Any ideas?"

Professor Stein stabbed a finger at a large, circular area just before where the corridor began. "This is where the corridor begins?"

"Right. From the main hallway."

"So….we get Jason here…and then somehow get him down that corridor. Hm."

"Got an idea, prof?"

"Maybe. How many more of those pulse rounds do you have?"

"Not nearly enough to shove Jason—especially this version—down that hallway."

"I wasn't thinking of that. Could you rework those superconducting pellets into, say, wires?"

Tsunaron's eyebrows rose. "I…might could. It would take them all…and the wires would be very thin, but…why?"

"Going by what Kinsa told us, Jason's body is now, at least partially, made of metal. If we could establish a strong magnetic field in the corridor, right down to the airlock, perhaps we could get Jason caught in that magnetic field…and drawn into the airlock."

"Whoa." Both Tsunaron and Kay Em looked surprised. "I…see where you're headed with this. Use his own metallic body against him, I like it. But how could we get him into that corridor? He'll probably be on his guard for traps like this, from last time."

"Perhaps," began Kay Em, thoughtfully, "with some upgrades, I might be able to force him into the corridor."

"But that would catch you—with your metallic parts-in the same trap." The professor was shaking his head. "You're not just a machine, Kay Em. You're one of us. I won't have you sacrificing yourself, especially if there's another way. Any other way.

"And, from the research Mary and I did on Jason, I think I might have just such a way."

…..

"Well, I'm at least getting some better results this time." Mary was hunched over the optical interface of the scanner. She turned to Jax with a smile. "Congratulations. You test out as perfectly human."

Jax quirked a smile, and shifted the heave gauss rifle to a more secure position, the smartstraps automatically configuring themselves, bracing against his center of mass. These things were heavy, but if they had half the firepower Tsunaron had assured him they did, he'd have carried a dozen. "Just as I suspected."

She _whapped_ him on his shoulder, lightly. "Smart aleck. Now if we can just get samples from everybody else…" She saw the look on his face, when she said, "everybody else." "What's wrong?" she asked, with a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach.

He sighed and sat down on a low stool. "Mary…I hate to keep on being the One True Prophet of Doom and Gloom, but…something the professor said to me kinda keeps coming back to me."

Mary's face fell just a little. He hated that. That perfect face should never know anything other than joy. "What?"

"He said that the only ones we could be sure of, were the bodies in the morgue."

"Yeah, but that didn't exactly work out so good."

"You're the biologist. _Could_ this thing re-animate the dead?"

She thought for a minute, then shook her head. "No. Although, in a sense, we sorta do something similar: when we eat, say, a steak, the tissue, the nutrients become part of us, of our living cells. But that's a far cry from reproducing and reanimating a whole cow. No, I don't think it can. Why do you ask?" She could tell he was troubled.

He crossed his arms, leaning back, and looked thoughtful. "Sooo…if someone's dead, we know they're—they were—human. Like the professor said, that hardly helps.

"But if someone got shot, or stabbed, or some other injury that should have proven lethal, and they don't die…wouldn't you say that might be cause for suspicion, at least?"

"Well….yeah, I guess I can see that. But none of us have been shot, Jax."

He sighed. "Mary…there IS one of us who's suffered what would normally be a killing stroke…and she's still alive, and apparently fully recovered."

Her eyes widened. "You don't mean…!"

He held up his hands, palms up. " _Probably_ not. But…Rowan…Dr. LaFontaine…she was also the last person to see Major Brodski alive. You mentioned that, yourself. How did she know the thing took him?

"And remember, she's been absent every time there's been another…incident."

Mary's head reeled. It was true that, that time just after Brodski's death, she entertained suspicions about the doctor, but in all that had happened since then, she'd actually forgotten. Just how good a mimic was this thing, anyway? Surely, it just couldn't be….

…But the logical part of her brain told her that he had a point. "So we need to test her. To be sure."

"Won't be easy. She stays busy working on the shuttle, or the computer, or the communications system. And…God forgive me for even saying this…all those systems are still down. All that's _probably_ just coincidence." He paused for a moment, thinking. "But this is the very thing the prof warned us against: the possibility that we could turn on each other. That might be what this thing wants, even: get us so paranoid that we lock ourselves in our rooms, and shoot at shadows. Then it could pick us off at its leisure. 'Divide and conquer,' so to speak."

"But…but if that's so, what can we _do_ about it _?_ "

He moved towards the table with the newly refurbished medical equipment. "First, we get her in for testing. I don't care how; we just gotta do it. No matter how 'busy' she is. If she tests out, then great. I'm just being paranoid. I really hope I am." He noticed her look. "What?"

She was silent for a long time. Then, "Jax…I just don't know. I, I guess I can kinda understand how Kinsa's feeling. It, it just all seems so overwhelming. I mean, here we are, trapped on a damaged ship, no communications, no security systems, with two murderous, unstoppable monsters. I…just don't see how we're gonna make it."

He turned to her, and took her hands in his. "Hey. Don't talk like that. We're gonna make it. I don't know how, but we will." He pulled her in, close to his chest. "And boy will we ever have one helluva story to tell our kids."

She looked up at him, an impish smile on her face. "Kids, Jax?"

"Uh, I mean…uh, well, yeah, I mean…y'know, kids…" He stammered. _Bust_ ed!

She pulled him into a kiss. "I've heard about kids, Jax. Once I even read a paper on how to make 'em. Seemed kinda far-fetched to me, but the references all checked out. Maybe when all this is over, you'd be willing to help me with some in-depth research?"

…..

Corridor X4: Professor Stein, Tsunaron and Kay Em were working feverishly, installing the superconducting wires in the ceiling, walls, and floors. "Basically," the professor had explained, "we're turning this entire corridor into the barrel of one gigantic rail gun. If we can just get Jason in range of the magnetic field, the metal in his body will be irresistibly drawn down it, into the aux airlock. Then, we blow it." They'd rigged up a remote control specifically to do that, overriding the airlock's safety protocols.

"So how are we gonna get Jason in here?"

"Sun Tzu's _The Art of War._ ' _Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder and crush him._ '

"Jason won't run from any situation, no matter how outgunned he may be. He'll only move _towards_ an enticing bait. And I think I know just the thing to entice him." And he showed them, detailing his plan.

"Professor!" Waylander appeared in one of the doorways leading to the corridor they were in the process of wiring. "It's Kinsa! She's gone!"

 _To be continued…_


	10. Chapter 10:Escapes, Narrow and Otherwise

Jason X vs. The Thing: A Learning Experience

Chapter 10: Escapes, Narrow and Otherwise

….

 _Still don't own either the Friday the Thirteenth nor the Thing franchises, of course. Now, on with the story._

… _.._

Chapter 10: Escapes, Narrow and Otherwise

…

"What? When did you discover this?"

"Just a few minutes ago. Janessa and I went to check on her. It looked like she'd jimmied her door open from the inside."

Professor Stein sighed, but his sigh had a strong hint of frustration in it. Tsunaron admired the professor's self-control; he looked as though he was one breath away from a cursing spree. _One thing after another._ Grabbing his gauss rifle, Stein turned to Tsunaron and Kay Em. "I've got to go find her. Can the two of you finish setting this up?"

"Sure, prof. You need to take somebody with you, though, don't you?"

Stein shook his head. "There's no time. From what Rowan was telling me, she may be suicidal. And even if she's not, Jason is sure to find her faster than any search party we could throw together. You two are needed here to set this up, and Mary and Jaxon are busy trying to find our identity test. And Waylander, Janessa…" He paused. "Where was Rowan when you left her?" he asked.

"Down in the comm room. She needed a circuit board to reset the system."

"I've got to find Kinsa _now,_ before Jason—or something else—does." _I only hope I'm in time._ "I need you two to make sure the shuttle is operational…and, don't we have life-pods, too?" He sighed. "This is looking more and more like a situation where we'll need them."

….

In a lone corridor, a long way from where the professor and the others were: Kinsa ran, not really knowing or caring where she was running to. She only knew what she was running from.

She'd awakened to find herself alone and her door locked and fastened. That could only mean that either Jason had already overpowered the rest of crew, and she'd been saved for last, or else the other thing, the alien monster had…eaten, absorbed, whatever it did…the rest of them, and it was only a matter of time until it was her turn. Either way, she couldn't stand to just sit in her room. She had to get out, get out somehow.

She recalled, from some plans Stoney had once showed her, that the shuttle bay was down one of these corridors. Thinking about Stoney made her breath hitch. Sobbing, she ran for what she hoped was the way to the shuttle….

…And suddenly, Jason was just _there,_ standing not more than a dozen feet away from her. "No!" She turned and ran in the other direction. There; there was a turbolift door…maybe if she could get to it in time, she could get away…

But the lift doors opened onto an empty shaft. " _Noooo!"_ No way out that way…and Jason was still coming, an unstoppable juggernaut, raised machete gleaming in the light. All she could do was cower down by the wall, and cover her face with her hands, not wanting to see death coming….

 _BOOOOM!_ The sound of the shot was like a physical blow, there in the confines of the corridor, and Jason reeled back. The professor took a step forward and fired again, the three hundred grain sabot round hitting Jason with nearly three tons of energy. Even that couldn't penetrate the new Jason's armor plate, but it did put a hefty dent in it, driving him back, in the direction of the empty lift shaft. Again, Stein stepped forward, his gauss rifle dialed all the way up, the thunder of the shot echoing throughout the hallway, its impact forcing the monster back into the shaft. They could hear him clattering against the sides of the shaft as he plummeted to the bottom. "Come _on,_ Kinsa!" Stein grabbed her by the arm and levered her into a standing position. "We've got to get away from here! This way!" And he hauled her off down the corridor, towards the lab Mary and Jax were using.

Kinsa could do nothing more than sob. Once again, she'd been totally useless. She wished, oh, how she wished, that Dr. LaFontaine hadn't stopped her from killing herself; she was a complete waste of space. Needed? Her? That was actually funny.

They reached the lab, and Professor Stein keyed open the door and hustled her inside. Mary and Jax looked up in alarm. "Kinsa? Professor? What—what's going on?"

Kinsa couldn't stop crying. "Just me, being useless again. I—I'm…" She broke down completely, the nervous shock of the last few minutes, combined with all the other shocks she'd had, practically reducing her to a puddle of misery.

"Kinsa." Professor Stein had shouldered his rifle, and now faced her, holding her by her arms. "Listen to me. Okay? Just listen." The other two looked on, wanting to help the stricken girl, but not knowing how. "You call yourself useless. You're not. You're a part of us, you're one of us. We're fighting to survive here, for us _all_ to survive…and you're one of the 'us' we're all fighting for.

"You blame yourself for Stoney's death. You blame yourself for not being able to do more. But you're not useless. You're part of the reason we're all fighting in the first place. We, all of us, are fighting as much for you as for ourselves. Because we care about you.

"You're never useless as long as someone cares about you, Kinsa. And we do. We _all_ do."

For a moment, she was silent. Then she grabbed him and pulled herself closer, laying her head against his chest, clinging to him like a child. After a few minutes, the sobs ceased. He stood there, stroking her hair, making soothing noises.

She looked up at them, still holding onto the professor, and wiped her eyes. "You know," she said, "this is gettin' to be a habit." And she actually smiled.

Mary moved in closer. She was still in awe at how the professor always seemed to know just the right words to say to comfort the hurting girl. It was almost like he had telepathy or something. "Kinsa, the professor's right. We're not gonna leave you or let anything bad happen to you." _Not if we can help it, at least._ "C'mon. Jax, take her over there; I'll see if we don't have anything to help calm her down." After Jax had led Kinsa over to the other side of the room, she turned to the professor. "How did she wake up? I thought I gave her enough to knock her out for hours."

"Mary…did you actually prepare that hypo? Yourself?"

"Yes…no, wait. Dr. LaFontaine actually got it out of the med cabinet. I didn't have that kind of clearance." She chewed her lip, wondering if she should share Jax's suspicion regarding Rowan with him.

She finally decided she would have to. When he heard, he looked more troubled that she'd seen him look so far, even in the morgue, with the bodies…the bodies that had vanished so strangely. "That…that is a disturbing notion, Mary. Rowan's been with us for some time now, and…did you come up with a test?"

"Yes, Dr. Stein. I tested it on Jax, and it works."

"Maybe you'd better test Kinsa. I find it…troubling that she awoke as soon as she did. After all," he said, "you may be on to something with this. But if that line of thinking has merit, it may also apply to anyone who displays any…unusual physical abilities."

"What are you thinking of, professor?"

"If Rowan is indeed…not Rowan, then there's no telling what could have been in that hypo. Maybe even some of the thing's own cells." Mary's eyes widened as she took in the full import of what he was thinking. "I just hope…just hope Kinsa is still Kinsa."

Mary and the professor went over to where Jax was sharing some sweet cakes with Kinsa. "Kinsa? We'd like to run a test on you. Would you mind?"

"N-no, Mary, of course not. But, w-what is this all about?"

"It's our test that Jax and I have been working on. I think we've finally got it perfected. Wanna be my guinea pig?" she said with a smile that, she hoped, hid a very troubled mind.

Jax turned to the professor. "Those must'a been some lucky grandchildren you had."

Professor Stein hesitated a moment. Then, "I…did my best. It's a learning experience, Jax. Takes place in this great classroom we call life." He nodded towards Mary, who was taking a sample from Kinsa. "One that, it looks like, you might find yourself in, soon enough." And he shot Jaxon a sly look.

Jax blushed crimson. "Oh, I, I don't know. I mean…" He floundered. "I mean, she's so…" He shrugged, unsure how to continue. _What could someone like her ever see in a guy like me?_

Professor Stein clapped him on the shoulder. "Just keep going the way you've been going, and you'll do fine."

He went over the where Mary was testing Kinsa. "Well, Kinsa tests out. Congrats, Kinsa. You're human."

Kinsa hiccupped, whether in fright or laughter, they couldn't tell. "G-good to know. So…what do we do now? Please let me do something! I've been doing nothing too long!"

Mary met the professor's eyes. "Of course we will, Kinsa. Don't worry about that. But we first have to figure out what to do."

…..

Corridor X4 : the entrance way. "Okay, here's the drill." Working with Kay Em, Tsunaron had lined the entire corridor with superconducting wires. There was no charge in them yet, for fear Jason's new cyborg senses would detect the magnetic field. "We set up this holographic projector here," he indicated the doorway to X4. "It projects an image of Camp Crystal Lake. Thank God Mary's research turned this up.

"The reasoning is, this is Jason's home turf. Yeah, he seems to dig it, here, maybe, true, but chances are he'll go for the familiar rather than the strange. So he'll head down this way, if nothing else, out of curiosity. Then, we spring the trap. Kay Em? You got that remote for the airlock?"

"Yes. I incorporated it into my own systems. That way, I can't lose it, and I'll know immediately if something goes wrong."

"Sweet. Okay. Now, we just have to get some idea as to where Jason is."

…

The control room: the place resembled a construction site. Rowan was desperately trying to get the communications array to functioning again. A great deal was riding on it.

She wasn't too worried about being alone. She'd instructed Waylander and Janessa to go in pairs; the general consensus being that anyone who showed up all by themselves would be suspect. Her comm signaled. "Yes?"

" _Dr. LaFontaine?"_ Waylander's voice came over the comm. _"Just wanted to let you know that Kinsa got loose somehow. She very nearly got killed by Jason, but the professor managed to blast him into that empty shaft on deck 3. He said he heard him hit the bottom. But that means he may be in your vicinity."_

"Okay." She continued to work, the tiny comm badge on her collar relaying both their voices. "I'll be on my guard. How did Kinsa get loose?"

Professor Stein's voice came on over the communicator. _"She evidently woke too soon from her…imposed slumber. What did you give her, anyway?"_

There was a moment of hesitation from the other end of the line. Then, they heard Rowan's voice. _"I gave her the maximum that I felt I safely could. In her state, I was afraid a full dose might cause her to go into respiratory failure. And with no one there to watch her…"_

"I understand, doctor," said Stein, his expression unreadable. "In any case, Mary and Jax have come up with our test. We can now test each of us to see who is and who isn't human."

Another brief pause. _"They have? Good. I'll be up as soon as I get something done here. In the meantime, can you test the others? And what about those medical transponders? Was Jax able to get those rebuilt?"_

"Yes. As soon as we can start testing, we can begin implanting the transponders in those we know to be human. In the meantime, be careful. Given Jason's proclivity for turning up at the most unexpected moments, you could have a run-in with him."

" _I'm not afraid of Jason. He and I are old 'pals.' Anyway, I've got this pulse rifle. It may not stop him, but by God, it'll be satisfying to use it on him. I almost hope he_ _does_ _show up. Ah, what am I saying."_ Another pause, while they heard her grunt with effort. _"Anyway, I'll be joining you as soon as I can. Oh, and it might be useful to see if we couldn't come up with some other test, maybe a lower tech one, to use for corroboration. Wouldn't hurt."_

"We'll see what we can come up with. Anyway, get up here as soon as you can, and we'll outfit you with a transponder." He closed the communicator, looking at the others. "I'm going down the control room. Mary. Do you have a portable version of that test? Good. I'll take it with me; perhaps we can eliminate Rowan right off the bat, without interrupting her work." His expression said, _assuming it doesn't need to be interrupted._

"Professor Stein, no! It's too risky! What if she's…not?"

"But we have to know, Mary. Remember her saying that whatever was interfering with the communication system seemed to be active, like a virus? If, indeed, she has been…compromised, she might even now be the very reason why we can't contact anyone.

"And about Jason: we think we've come up with something." He turned to Jax. "You two might want to get down to 4X yourselves, test those there. Plus, you could be needed if things go south. Tsunaron will fill you in on the plan." He picked up his rifle. "Kinsa? You go with them. The shuttle's close by that area; if things take a turn for the worse….get in it and get out. Don't worry about me. Just go. Go and bring back help. Okay?" Kinsa tried to smile a brave smile. She didn't quite succeed. "If our plan works, Jason won't be a problem much longer. So go on; I'll join you as soon as I can."

"Okay, professor," said Jax, hefting his gauss rifle. He, too, had dialed it up all the way to shoulder-punishing maximum. He clearly wasn't happy with this plan, but he had to see to the safety of Mary and Kinsa.

…

Corridor X4 : Tsunaron activated the hologram. Immediately, the view of the corridor leading to the airlock was replaced by a three-dimensional image of an idyllic woodland scene, the trees, green with spring, swaying gently in the nonexistent breeze. A ways off, they could see light reflecting off the lake, hear the sounds of children playing. Tsunaron whistled low. "Wow. So Jason got his start _here?_ " But he knew the story: outcast mutant kid gets drowned while camp counselors watch, comes back as murderous monster, determined to punish those he deemed guilty. "This guy is some _seriously_ fucked up."

A noise in one of the corridors just outside attracted their attention. "Quick, Kay Em! Hide! If that's Jason…" They'd been alerted to the killer's possible presence on this floor.

They hid in one of the closets that was between the doors, Tsunaron still holding the remote that would activate the magnetic fields.

Jason crashed through one of the doorways to the left, crashed through…and stopped, dead still, apparently thunderstruck by the vision he was seeing. He stepped forward….and halted, just before he was within effective range of the mag fields.

"He's close." Tsunaron breathed. He and Kay Em were watching nervously. "Just a few more feet, you maniac, just a few more feet…c'mon, you can do it, just take one more step…" But Jason stood where he was, seemingly mesmerized by the sight.

"Here," said Kay Em. "Let me by." She shouldered past him, moved towards the door.

"Kay Em!" he hissed, "what are you doing?"

"He's distracted. If I can just give him a little push…just hold on to that button."

"No, Kay Em, it's too ris-*" But the android woman was already out of the door, and creeping up on Jason, moving as soundlessly as a cat…

…And all at once, Jason whirled around, swung a massive fist, and slammed her against the wall, the force of the blow disconnecting her head from her body. "Shit!" Tsunaron dodged out of the closet and made a dive for Kay Em.

Or, rather, for Kay Em's head, which spoke, even as he flung himself towards her. "Tsunaron! _Don't!_ Get the hell outta here!" But he didn't listen, rolling right past Jason, narrowly dodging Jason's shovel-sized hand, grabbed her head, and, cradling it in his arms, flung open the nearest door and made tracks. "Stupid!" fussed Kay Em. "You could've been killed!"

He glanced over his shoulder, hearing the sounds of pursuit. "I might be yet. But no way was I gonna leave you."

"Yeah, well, I'm flattered, an' all, but just remember, the switch to blow that airlock is back there in my body."

They ran.

Mary and Jax were just coming off the turbolift when they saw Tsunaron running, hell-bent, towards them, cradling Kay Em's disembodied head in his arms. "Look out! Jason's right behind me!"

Jax stepped forward, gauss rifle dialed up to the max, dropped to one knee and fired, the shot nearly deafening them all. Once again, Jason was knocked back, but he recovered quicker this time, and once more advanced, machete at the ready….Jax fired again, and once again, the oncoming giant was knocked back, but even less so this time…

….and Jax's rifle clicked on an empty chamber. " _Shit!_ " He'd left one of his gauss rounds in the lab, as a template for the nanites to build on. He stepped in front of the others, even as Mary screamed at him to _get outta the way!_ He held up the rifle crosswise, to block the downward stroke of the machete. But the sheer force of the blow threw him off-balance, knocking him to one side.

Mary rushed up beside him, grabbing his shirt sleeve, trying to pull him out of the way, and Jason shifted his attention to her. With a speed belying his huge bulk, he adjusted his aim, sending the machete's razor edge straight for her….

….and Jax desperately shoved her out of the way of the descending blade….

….which proceeded to slice his arm completely off, between the elbow and the shoulder.

 _To be continued…._


	11. Chapter 11: Shocks

Jason X vs. The Thing: A Learning Experience

Chapter 11: Shocks

….

 _Yes! I admit it! I DO own the Friday the Thirteenth AND the Thing franchises! Not!_

… _.._

Chapter 11: Shocks

…

Mary screamed again, seeing Jax's blood spurting across the corridor, splashing against the far wall. She grabbed him and endeavored to pull him away from the monster, but he was already reeling from the shock and off-balance from the loss of his arm. Jason again raised the blade….

….and Kinsa suddenly appeared between them, something in her hand. " _Eat this, motherfucker!"_ And she shoved something small and blocky straight into Jason's metallic torso.

Electricity crackled, and Jason writhed, not in pain, but in convulsions from the charge. For a few brief moments, he was held immobile, his whole body spasming as the electrical charge coursed through his body. Mary and Kinsa hustled Jax's limp form away toward the turbolift. "Quick, somebody! Give me something to tie this off, before he bleeds to death!" Tsunaron ripped his shirt off, even while they were moving. Jason was still convulsing, unable to pursue his prey.

The lift opened, and Waylander and Janessa emerged. "What th' _hell?_ "

"Quick, let's get out of here!" The five of them dragged the half-fainting Jax into the lift and hit the button. They all breathed a sigh of relief when it got in motion.

All but Mary. She was bent over Jax's prone form, tying on the tourniquet, tears streaming down her face. "Jax, _why'd_ you haveta go an' play the hero?"

"H-hey...the j-job was open, thought, thought I'd apply." He managed a weak smile. Then he sobered, drifting on edge of consciousness. "Couldn't, couldn't let anything hap-happen to you, Mary. Never."

She didn't really know what to say to that.

"Say," asked Tsunaron, addressing Kinsa, while they both worked to tie off Jaxon's stump, "what'd you hit Jason with, anyway?"

Kinsa wasn't in much better shape than Mary, but she actually seemed to be coming out of her funk. "The, the power pack from Jax's rifle. I figured it'd conduct through his body like that, being metal an' all." She laughed a shaky laugh. "He's not the first guy I ever had to Taser, but he sure is the ugliest!"

Tsunaron stared at her in amazement. Then he wrapped an arm around her, the one not holding Kay Em's head. "Well, waytago, kid. That was really quick thinking. You probably saved us all."

She gulped. "Yeah. Maybe…maybe the professor won't be too ashamed of me, after all."

They hustled the unconscious Jax into the lab, where Mary immediately set upon the nanites. "Tsunaron? How do you program these things? Maybe they can help with the bleeding."

He came over, still cradling Kay Em's head. "This is gonna be tricky. These particular nanites aren't really designed for med use. Where did these come from?" Upon being told they came from the shuttle bay, he nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought. They're more designed to repair non-organics. For organics, you need a different set."

"Where would they be?"

He shrugged. "In all that's happened…not sure. I'm pretty sure they'd have some in the old morgue, though…it was designed for this sort of thing."

She turned away, having done all she could. "I gotta call the professor. Maybe he'd have some idea…"

But repeated calls on the remaining comm unit elicited no reply. "Professor? Professor, can you read me?"

No reply.

Mary called Rowan next. "Dr. LaFontaine, is the professor down there with you?"

Crackle. _"No. Should he be?"_

"He was on his way down to see you, to see if he could help with the repairs, a few minutes ago. You mean he hasn't showed up?"

Another crackle, and a pause this time. Then, _"No. I haven't seen or heard from him."_

 _No,_ thought Mary. Not the professor. Not Professor Stein. For a brief moment, it was as though she was on the verge of a breakdown herself. But then she straightened up, her face hardening. "I'm going down there," she told the rest of them. "I've gotta try to find the professor."

"Mary, _no!_ You _can't_ go out there alone!" Janessa was emphatic. "Look, Waylander and I will go with you…"

"No. You two need to stay here, to keep Tsunaron and the others safe. The morgue's on the way down there; I'm the only one with enough security clearance to get in. Give me one of those pulse rifles…how many more rounds you got for those? Damn. Not many.

"Look, I'll go to the morgue, get some of those med nanites. Tsunaron, I'll need you to stay here and try to program these that we've got. I know they're not for organics, but, but maybe you could program 'em to fix him up with, with, I dunno, something, at least until we can get somewhere and do better. Once you do, though, you and the others make for the shuttle. It may not be fully repaired, but anything that'll hold atmosphere and won't try to kill us beats what we've got.

"And I'll try to find the professor." She took a moment to grab the portable gene-analyzer they'd cobbled together. "And if Rowan…is Rowan, I'll bring her back with me. If not…." She thought, while the others watched. "If not, then you all head for the shuttle. Or the life pods. Whichever is easiest to get to. I'll…I'll join you as soon as I can."

Tsunaron grabbed her by the arm. "Mary, you _can't._ You'll be killed, or worse! Even with a rifle, you're no match for Jason, or, or this other thing. We should _all_ go for the shuttle. Safety in numbers, and all that." Kay Em's head couldn't nod, but her expression agreed with Tsunaron's sentiment. "You shouldn't do this by yourself, Mary."

"I have to." Mary glanced back at the painkillered-up body of Jax. "Otherwise, Jax could bleed to death, even with a tourniquet. No matter what happens to me, you've got to get him to safety. _No matter what._ Understand?" There was a look in her eye that made Tsunaron back down.

"O-okay, Mary. We…we'll meet you at the shuttle."

En route to the primary backup comm room, Mary kept looking over her shoulder. She thought she knew what to do: avoid blind spots, stay away from dark corners, and, above all else, watch for overhead gratings. Such was her heightened senses, that she almost didn't see the discarded gauss rifle until she nearly stumbled over it.

 _No._ It had to be the one the professor had been carrying; nobody else down here would be carrying one. She knelt beside it a moment, tears flowing down her face. Then she signaled the others. "Tsunaron? I, I've found the professor's rifle, and, and he's nowhere to be found. I guess we all know what that means." And she wept for the man she'd come to think of almost as a father.

" _Mary? Are you sure?"_

"Yeah. I remember seeing that his had that scratch on the side…I'm afraid he's...gone." _There isn't enough pain in the universe to pay this monster back. Jason, either._ "You and the others get on to the shuttle. I'll, I'll be in touch." _And if Rowan's not Rowan, I swear to holy God I'm gonna smear her all over the walls, ceiling, and floor._

Just outside the doorway to the comm room: She paused, listening. She could hear the sounds of heavy labor coming from within, but no human voice, nor any sign of heavy breathing, even. Of course, she told herself, not everybody swore while they worked on recalcitrant machinery.

But many did.

She opened the door, the point of the gun forward. Rowan looked up, startled. "Mary? What's going on? Where's everybody else?"

"Doctor," began Mary, who was wearing a more determined expression than any Rowan had seen on her yet. "I need to test you. Now."

Dr. LaFontaine took a look at then unwavering muzzle of the gun in her face, and the expression on Mary's. She licked her lips, trying to gauge just how far away her own gun was. "O...okay. But…but what's brought this on?"

"The professor's missing. He was on his way down here." She motioned with her head. "I found his rifle outside, just down the corridor."

"And so you naturally think that I'm…okay." Rowan moved slowly and carefully. No sudden moves. "I, I guess I can see how you'd arrive at that…suspicion."

"Believe me, Doctor, I really hope my suspicions are wrong. I really hope that, in a few minutes, I'll be falling all over myself, apologizing. But…"

"But until you know…Mary, believe it or not, I really do understand. So." Dr. LaFontaine stood up, hands in plain sight, not trying to edge any closer to Mary. Mary was on her guard now, on edge. It wouldn't take but a hint of pressure on the trigger of her gun to set it off….

And Rowan noted that it was set for full automatic.

Mary put the testing kit down on the floor between them, nudged it towards Rowan with her foot. Rowan very carefully stooped down to pick it up. As she readied the testing media, she asked. "So….how did…things go topside? I've a hunch Jason's still with us."

"Yes, yes, he is. Tsunaron's plan didn't work out so well. And, and Jax lost an arm."

" _What?_ " Rowan nearly dropped the sampler. "How? And when?"

"He was trying to save me. Now, doctor, if you would, please?"

Rowan pricked her finger and carefully placed the drop of blood on the testing strip. The whole unit was, actually, based on a standard human glucometer. Only _this_ device was a good deal more sensitive.

And Jason crashed through the doorway opposite to them, already swinging his machete.

Mary turned, and, with the same move, opened fire. She knew she only had a limited number of shots, but one good thing about the pulse rifles was, they didn't overheat.

To her side, she was aware of Rowan making a dive for her own gun, bringing it to bear on the metal monster. Their combined blasts served only to halt Jason momentarily. Raising his machete, he advanced towards them, unstoppable.

"This way!" Rowan slammed open the door Mary had just come in from. "We've got to get out of here!"

But all Mary could see was Jaxon's blood spurting across the hallway. "Damn you, damn you, DAMN YOU!" She kept on firing, the totality of her being focused on destroying the monster that had hurt the one she loved.

"Mary! _Come on!_ " Jason was getting closer. He was leaning into the hail of projectiles, steadily advancing across the room. The shots from Mary's rifle ricocheted around the room, striking delicate equipment, some even ricocheting back towards the embattled pair.

Rowan grabbed Mary, and, with desperate strength, hauled her bodily out of the room, just as Jason's blade came down on the very place she'd previously been standing. The two of them ran down the hallway, down one corridor, and into the turbolift.

Once inside, they both slumped against the wall, out of breath. Gradually, with the heat of the battle subsiding, Mary became aware of the fact that she was in an enclosed place with the very person she suspected of being yet another monster. She hitched herself as far away from Rowan as she could, bringing her rifle to bear as best as she could, in the confined space, on the other. Rowan noticed this. "Look, Mary. _I_ know I am who I say I am, but I understand you don't. But, if I was…an alien, now would be the perfect time, wouldn't it? Except I'm not doing anything, am I?" Mary gulped, nodding, still not trusting the doctor at all.

The turbolift opened onto the level of the morgue, and Mary slid out, keeping her distance. "I've got to get those med nanites for, for Jax." There was an unspoken question in her voice.

"You know what to look for? They'll be marked with a red and white 'red cross' emblem. You should have enough clearance to get those." Rowan paused, seemingly still out of breath. She hesitated. "If not, use the backup password."

"What's the backup password?"

"'PASSWORD.' One word, all caps." She saw Mary's expression. "What? We never thought we'd actually _need_ it.

"I'll head on to the others. Just…just be careful, and watch out for corners and enclosed spaces. He positively loves those. About this other thing…I got nuthin'. But I will go see what I can do for Jax, okay?"

Again, Mary nodded, still not quite trusting herself to speak. Even aside from all the sleep they'd all been missing, just coming down from the berserker high she'd been on brought on all the aches, pains, and general overall fatigue of running a marathon. With chagrin, she realized that the comm room was, by now, pretty well FUBAR'd, with all the ricocheting shots she and Rowan had both fired. She felt a little shaky when she realized how easily either one of them could have been hit with "friendly fire." But she drew in a deep breath; she had to buck up. For Jax.

As the turbolift closed, Mary ran towards the morgue, hoping she wouldn't be the next candidate for it.

…

The lab: Rowan burst into the lab, only to find herself staring down the muzzles of Janessa and Waylander's guns. She backed up, help up her hands. "Guys, it's me. I know, I know, but it really is me. Do you have any of those gene analyzers here?"

Waylander pushed forward, his heavy-gauge gauss rifle never wavering. At this range, the hydrostatic shock of the sabot's passage would be like a cannonball. "Where's Mary?"

Rowan sighed. She couldn't blame them. "She came down to the comm room to test me, but before she could, Jason crashed the party. We barely got out alive. But she went on to the morgue to get those med nanites. You can call her, verify that."

Tsunaron touched his communicator. "Mary? You there?" _Please be there._

There was a crackle. Then, _"I'm here, Tsunaron. Look, get everybody and get to the shuttle. I don't know what state it's in, but it's beginning to look like it's about all we've got. Communications are just not gonna happen."_ Pause. Then, _"How-how's Jax?"_

"We got him stabilized. The nanites we had worked better than I'd thought. We might even be able to build him a prosthetic arm, but that'd take a while."

He could hear her sigh of relief over the comm. _"Well, then, get everyone to the shuttle. If I don't join you in thirty minutes, go on without me."_

"No way."

" _Yes way. I'll take a life pod, if that happens. Those things have beacons. But you've got to get the others to safety. The professor…the professor's gone. There's nobody left but us."_

While he'd been talking to Mary, Rowan had moved up alongside of Jax, who was still unconscious from the painkillers, plus the shock of the injury. She smoothed his hair down, checked the readouts. Janessa watched her very carefully. "She's right, you know." They all turned to her. "Mary's right. We have to get off this ship. Too many things are going wrong with it—communications, navigation. If we get too close to Earth II space, and can't contact anybody for support, they'll shoot us down as a menace. So we have to get off."

Tsunaron thought, still holding Kay Em's head. "Kay Em? Any thoughts on that?"

"Dr. LaFontaine's right. We're getting too close to navigable airspace. If they don't hear from us, they'll assume this ship is a derelict, and shoot us down, rather than risk having the ship fall on some populated area. Especially so since they'd have no idea _why_ we're not responding. If we're unresponsive, we could be seen as a plague ship." Rowan nodded. It was everyone's nightmare: a ship from some far reach of space, making landfall and spreading some disease that the human race as a whole had no defense against. Similar things had happened in the past. Whole planets had been depopulated by just such circumstances. It wasn't for nothing that most of the upper echelons in the military regarded an incoming, uncommunicative ship as a potential extinction level event. "Alright then. It's settled. Janessa, Waylander? Give a hand here." He motioned to Jax's body.

"Let me by. Maybe I can do something," pleaded Rowan.

"Dr. Rowan, please don't take offense when I say this, but there are just too many red flags springing up all around you. I feel you are probably you…but if I'm wrong, it would be bad cubed, to the tenth power. So until we can sort things out—until we can get stopped long enough to gene-test you—we're gonna haveta treat you as a threat. I'm sorry."

Rowan nodded, understanding. It wasn't lost on her that, in this confined space, the shot from one of the hand cannons they were carrying could easily do as much damage to them as to her. And they were just desperate enough to risk it. She opened her mouth to try to allay their fears...

And, at that exact moment, the lights went out.

…

Tsunaron looked about, a reflexive gesture, knowing he wouldn't see anything. "Shit! _Now_ what?" He could hear jostling, and somebody…maybe Kinsa…screamed. "Everybody, stay calm! Stay where you are, and sound off! Waylander?"

"Here!"

"I'm here, too," spoke up a patch of darkness near where Waylander had been. It was Janessa's voice. "Kinsa?"

"I-I'm here!"

"Dr. LaFontaine?"

No reply.

He tried again. "Dr. LaFontaine! Are you here?"

Nothing.

"Kay Em?" He turned his attention to the android woman's head, still in his arm. "Kay Em, what about you? Can your optics see anything?"

"Yeah, I'm getting heat sigs from everybody. But Rowan's missing."

Tsunaron thought the vilest curse word he could have. This pretty much confirmed their suspicions regarding the doctor. "Okay, people. I guess this settles it. Everybody link up. Waylander, you and Kinsa take Jax. Janessa, you're on guard duty. We move towards the shuttle; Kay Em will guide us. And maybe there'll be lights in some other parts of the ship, but if not…" He turned and addressed Kay Em. "You see anything that looks like Jason, this thing, or….or Dr. LaFontaine, you'll have to guide Janessa. Janessa, if that happens, don't hold back. This is it, people. Our last shot."

….

Mary had reached the corridor leading to the morgue…only to find Jason standing guard at the very door. _Does this monster think?_ she wondered. _Can he know that I need to get in there? How?_

She brought up the rifle. She only had a few rounds left in it, but maybe it would be enough to push Jason away from the doorway, let her in.

Getting back out now, that might be a different matter, but she didn't even think about that right then. All she could think of was Jax, and his need for the medical nanites.

But before she could pull the trigger, Jason drew back his arm, and launched his machete straight at her….

….skewering her right through her abdomen.

She gasped in shock, the gun dropping from her fingers. She fell to the floor, the shock and pain all but rendering her unconscious. Dimly, she saw Jason calmly walking towards her, to finish her off….

There was a sudden metallic screech overhead, and _something_ dropped out of the ceiling. Through her haze of pain, confusion, and fear, she couldn't make out exactly what it was, but it seemed to resemble an earthly scorpion, hugely enlarged, and heavily armored. And instead of a stinger, its massively-muscled tail sported a four-pronged claw.

The creature dropped right in front of the approaching Jason, swiveled to face him. The clawed tail shot out, gripping the oncoming killer and lifting him bodily off the deck. It smashed him again and again into the floor, finally smashing him hard enough that he broke through to the lower level. Mary noted that the monster's insectile legs were actually _hooked_ into the floor, giving it additional leverage. Even dying as she was, she gasped again when she realized that that lower level was closer to the shuttle area….and her friends.

The monster in front of her turned towards her, its hideous face studying her with many sets of eyes. Mary could feel her own consciousness slipping, her hand gripping the machete stuck through her tightly. Any second now, she knew, would come the blood, gushing out of her, ending her life. _At least_ , she thought, _at least I won't be food for this thing._

But the creature was changing, in front of her eyes, morphing into a humanoid form, drawing up from its low-center-of-gravity shape into a bipedal one. As she watched, it morphed into….

Another gasp escaped her, this one of surprise. _"Professor Stein?"_ _That's it_ , she thought, _I'm dying. This is dying. I'm hallucinating. I'm seeing things_.

The professor walked over to her and knelt down beside her. "Here, Mary. Don't be alarmed. Now. Just hold still. This could sting a bit…" And, with one swift movement, he drew the machete out of her, and tossed it across the floor, pressing his fingers up against the wound. Again she gasped, a combination of surprise and shock. But weirdly, there didn't seem to be as much pain as she'd thought there should have been. _I must be in shock,_ she thought. "Here," he said, "Put your fingers there. Just hold them there for a few minutes."

"You've…you've killed me," she gasped. Now, without the blade in the way, the blood would definitely gush out of her like water from a fire hydrant.

"No, I haven't. Here. Just put your fingers there and hold them. You'll see."

She did, still expecting her blood to come spraying out, but, to her amazement, this didn't happen. Even the pain was diminishing, and there wasn't any blood. _But that makes no sense!_ "You… _you're_ the monster? The, the alien? _You,_ Professor Stein?"

He nodded, still kneeling beside her, his usual kindly expression on his face, the expression she'd come to associate with him. "Yes, Mary. I'm the alien." He glanced up and back; they could both hear sounds of movement from the deck below, where Jason had been thrown. The killer was down, but definitely not out.

She tried to hitch away from him. "You, you killed those soldiers! A-and Major Brodski! And-*" But he held up a hand.

"Mary. Calm down. Yes, I'm the alien you've all been hunting for. I admit it. And, yes, I did kill Major Brodski. Consumed him, actually. It was necessary, for reasons I don't have time to go into right now.

"But Mary…I didn't kill those soldiers. I didn't kill Leibrowski or Davis.

"Mary…that was you. _You_ did that."

 _To be continued…._


	12. Chapter 12: Finale

Jason X vs. the Thing

Chapter 12

…..

 _Sorry, people, I accidentally deleted the original chapter 12, so here's a reposting._

….

 _As I said in my previous post, all credit for this story goes to both John W. Campbell, for writing one of the most frightening stories I've ever read ("Who Goes There?"-if you're brave enough to look it up), and to Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who did such a bang-up job in the 2011 remake of "The Thing," that I based my character of "Mary" on her. Most of you probably already guessed that._

...

Chapter 12: Finale

Down in the lower corridor, leading to the shuttle: with Kay Em's guidance, the group had made its way towards the shuttle. "Hold up, guys," said Tsunaron. The corridor they were currently in wasn't completely black; the emergency lights had come on, their red radiance still not revealing much, but at least allowing them to keep from bumping into each other. "I wanna go by and retrieve Kay Em's body."

"Tsunaron, no!" Kay Em said, "It's too risky! Besides, you can rebuild me anyway, as long as you have my core processor. You don't _need_ my body!"

"But that detonation mechanism is in there. And we might still be able to get Jason into that airlock. If so, the only way we have of blowing it is with that switch that's inside you. Say," he said, suddenly, as something occurred to him, "I thought you couldn't operate on yourself. How'd you get that switch installed inside you, anyway?"

Kay Em's head grimaced, a blush coming over her face. "Ah, er, you, uhm, really don't wanna know."

"Oooookay." In the dim red light, the group made their way towards corridor X4….

….

1982: Antarctica, Old Earth: _"You!" MacReady exclaimed, his voice already cracking from the ice crystals forming in his throat. "I should've known!"_

" _You should've. But it's a little late now."_

" _No, it's not." With a strength and speed born of a desperation that mere fear of death could never fuel, he pulled out a small automatic from inside his coat._

 _The figure sounded amused. "Surely you don't think_ _that_ _will stop me."_

" _It's not for you." And MacReady put the barrel of the automatic to his temple…._

" _Oh, put that away before you hurt somebody," said the thing wearing Garry's body. "If I wanted to assimilate you, I would've dropped on you from overhead." And he pointed to the grating over MacReady's head._

 _Not lowering the gun one inch, MacReady said, after a thought, "All right. What_ _do_ _you want?" It had been, he thought, a perfect disguise. They'd all thought Garry was dead. What better disguise than that of a corpse?_

" _The same thing as you. I want to go home. My ship crashed here, and I was frozen before I could effect repairs. I simply want to return home. Just like you."_

" _Yeah," snarled MacReady, "That's why you introduced yourself so politely. Took a bow and everything."_

" _That long in cryosleep, without proper preparation, does things to biological systems. If the human race lives long enough, you'll find that out yourself. It can affect the brain, and it can certainly affect the body. I awoke ravenously hungry and only partially conscious. And there you were."_

" _You still haven't given me one reason why I shouldn't pull this trigger."_

" _Help me," said the alien that looked like Garry. "Help me get home. My ship is wrecked beyond repair—thanks to you, by the way—but the communications system can be salvaged. I can send a signal to my people."_

" _Yeah? What? 'Dinner's on'?"_

" _I'm a civilized life form, believe it or not. As are those of my kind. We have our own means of nourishment, quite acceptable to us, in our own places. We would no more settle in here, to feast, than you would take a cabin in the woods solely for the experience of living off wild game rather than simply buying hamburger at the supermarket. We can do it, but it's not our preferred way."_

" _I don't believe you."_

 _Garry shrugged. "Your choice. But you should know the facts. Fact: your gun won't even hurt me, let alone kill me. But it will kill you. And, before you even think it, I can move faster than you can throw those bombs of yours._

 _Fact: The cold won't kill me. Eventually, there will be an expedition here to see what went wrong. And they'll find me, frozen, but intact. And I'll thaw out, just like before. You, on the other hand…"_

" _The other bodies…."_

" _I already took care of that little detail. Rescuers won't find anything but some charred corpses. And you. And me."_

 _MacReady thought. "Help you how?"_

" _Help me get my communications system back together. All it would take would be our equivalent of an SOS signal. And in return, I can use my technology to help you survive long enough to be rescued. Win-win."_

 _MacReady looked at the figure for a long, long moment. Then, "I can't take that chance." The report of the pistol was loud in the confined space._

 _The thing that looked like Garry sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that." He leaned back._

 _And he waited._

…..

"No. Freakin.' Way." Mary was torn between the conflicting emotions of disbelief, confusion, and utter terror. The monster they'd all been afraid of, the alien shapechanger…was the professor, had been all along. And he was telling her….what?

"I said, _you_ were the one who killed those two soldiers, Mary. Not me. Though I should add, you didn't really know what you were doing at the time." Still, she shook her head, unable to accept it. _This is all some kinda near death hallucination. I'm dying and this is my brain's perverted way of keeping me amused while I do._ "Look. It's a long story, but I'll give you the short version of it. Come on, stand up." And he helped her get to her shaky feet. She still hadn't taken her hand away from the spot where Jason's machete had pierced her through, still expecting, any minute, for the geyser of blood to spew forth, that would signal her end. "My ship crashed on your planet a long time ago, in the area you call Antarctica. I've been on your world—awake, at least-for a little over five hundred of your years. To make a long story short, I was accidently thawed out, and….well, let's just say that both sides in that affair made a rather bad first impression on each other.

"But the cold couldn't kill me. I eventually made my way to the lands of humans, and posed as one, for all this time. Waiting for the time when mankind's technology would reach a point to where it could get me home.

"However, about a hundred years ago, I…" He paused, and a peculiar expression passed over his face. "Well. I met someone. A human female. A woman. The result of that meeting was your grandmother.

"I thought I had taken proper precautions, that my genes would never come to the fore. But it seems that they were only recessive, dormant. They've emerged…in you.

"You're changing, Mary. You're changing into a being like me. You're going through what might be described as similar to a human's adolescent stage, where the body begins to develop into the adult stage. You're changing. And your body needed nourishment that you couldn't get in any way but one. So…you blacked out, suffered a loss of consciousness, and your body…did what it needed to do."

Mary was still shaking her head. "No. No, this…isn't true. This isn't happening. I'm _human,_ dammit! I'm _human!_ "

"Mary," he said, gently, "look down at your wound. Go on; look at it."

She glanced down, expecting to see blood seeping out around her fingers. But there was no blood. Cautiously, she removed her fingers from the gash.

There was no wound. She felt around her midsection, through her clothing, feeling, almost desperately. There wasn't even a scar to show where Jason's machete had pierced her. "What…how…"

"You're changing into a being like me, Mary. That's all. We're very, very hard to kill. A simple trauma like that won't do it."

"No…I'm no killer…"

"Mary." He put his hand on her shoulder, lightly. "You need to accept this. It's not going to go away. And besides, it's not like it's some horrible Fate Worse Than Death. Once you completely change over, you won't need to hunt like you have been, but until then, you're still metamorphosing. And to do that, you have to have certain nutrients, nutrients you can't find any other way." He paused, looking at her. "I knew, the moment I laid eyes on you, what had happened. That's why your first set of tests kept coming back positive. Your _tests_ were accurate; it's just you took your baseline sample from yourself. And so, of course, everyone you compared that sample to came back positive. It wasn't them, Mary, and it wasn't the equipment. _It was you._ " He looked at her with what looked like a genuinely kind expression. "I wish there could have been better circumstances for me to have revealed this to you. But it's true. You know, in the center of your being, that it's true." And she could tell it was. Somehow, deep down in the core of her being, she just _knew._

She was becoming like him. Something not human. An alien.

An alien to men.

An alien to _Jax._ " _No,_ " she sobbed, still not wanting to believe it. "No…"

"But it's true, Mary. Now. The only thing we can do is get to the shuttle and escape. So come on." So saying, he turned to go.

"No, wait! What about the others?"

He was shaking his head. "The shuttle's damaged from being used to reconstruct Jason. It won't hold everybody. But it'll hold us. We can make it to Earth II." He saw her frown. "Maybe we can send back help." But she could tell he didn't really believe any such help would come in time.

"No. I won't leave them. I won't desert my friends. Jason will _kill_ them!"

"Mary…you _can't_ stop Jason. You've seen that. He can't be killed, especially now, this cyborg version. And with the cryo tanks destroyed, we can't freeze him, like before. He can't be killed. But _we_ can. We can die. It would take a lot of doing, but we're not indestructible. So our best course of action right now is to escape."

"No." This time more firmly. "I won't leave them. I won't leave _him._ " There was no doubt at all, in his mind, of whom she was talking about. "I, I'll find a way. I'll stop him somehow."

"Mary, be reasonable-*"

But she clutched at his sleeve, even as a part of her mind wondered how it was that he was still wearing the standard jumpsuit. He surely hadn't been wearing it when he was the scorpion monster. "Help me. You, you have powers, you know how, how to do things. You fought him before. Help me save them! There's room in the shuttle; there's _got_ to be! We, we can crowd in…"

"Mary. You aren't thinking things through. Okay, suppose, against all odds, you do manage to defeat Jason. Somehow. Then what? _You'll_ still be here. And sooner or later, you'll need to feed again. Who would it be this time? You're the biologist, the professional. You know predators go after the weak, the wounded.

"Don't you see the best thing we can do—for him _and_ for us—is to leave?"

"No," she said again. "Help me. You can do it, I know you can. You fought Jason before. You have to help me save them. Help me!"

He sighed a very human-like, exasperated sigh. "Mary, why should I? They're only human. They mean nothing to me."

She looked at him for a moment. Then, "I don't believe you."

"I am what I am, Mary."

"No, I mean, _I don't believe you're telling me the truth._ " She poked him in the chest with her finger. "I saw what you did for Kinsa. You helped her when none of the rest of us had a clue. You, you comforted her, you got through to her, through her hysteria, you helped her get through what had to be the absolute worst time in her entire life. You literally held her together when she was coming apart at the seams. Nobody else, _nobody_ else, from _any_ world, could have done that.

"You've been pretending to be human longer than the rest of us, combined, have been alive. I don't think it's just an act anymore.

"I think you've been imitating being human for so long that part of you _is_ human, or at least so close as to make no difference." He looked away, not meeting her gaze. "And you made a promise. You promised Kinsa you'd help her, that you'd fight for her, that you'd protect her. I don't care about your biology, or how far removed from humanity you are, or what world you're from. You've been one of us long enough that you know what a promise like that means.

"So I'm calling you on it. Keep your word. Do what you said you'd do. _Keep your own word, goddammit!"_ She was shouting, and now she stopped, breathing hard.

He looked at her for a long, long time, his expression completely unreadable. Then he reached up towards her face. She blanched; now would come the time when he'd kill her, or assimilate her.

But instead, he gently touched the side of her cheek. "So much like your great-grandmother," he said, "She wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, either."

…..

The group had reached the entry to corridor X4 when Jason smashed his way through another door, as usual, in his own uncanny way, coming at them from the direction they'd least expected. _How'd he get here this quick?_ _Did the shuttle repair stick some kind of teleport device up his butt?_ Tsunaron wondered, even as he barked out orders. "Hold him off! I gotta get Kay Em's-*"

" _No,_ Tsunaron!" Kay Em's head spoke up emphatically. "It's not worth it! Besides, without some kind of electrical charge, you don't have any way of forcing him down that corridor!" He could barely hear her over the deafening thunder of the gauss rifles.

Rifles which only served to slow Jason down. But the two kept firing…

…until Waylander's gun clicked empty, followed by Janessa's. " _No!"_ Kinsa screamed, even as the monster advanced on them….

…and from behind them something else tore an entire section of the wall completely off, smashing its way into the already crowded compartment…

It loosely resembled an Earthly crab, albeit longer and segmented, but it was the size of small car. Heavily armored, its multiple pincers snapping open and shut. It had, Tsunaron noticed, two sets of very disturbingly human-seeming eyes.

 _Earlier:_ "Alright. I see you aren't going to let this rest. The only way we'll beat Jason is if we join forces, work together. My superacid attack won't work on his new armored plate."

"Okay," said Mary. "How do we do this?"

He extended his hand. "We join forces. Literally. We combine, becoming one being, one body with two minds. Together, with our combined strength and my experience, we can overpower him, at least for a short time."

"Er….combine?" Mary hesitated. She was prepared to do whatever it took to save her friends, but she hadn't really considered _this_.

"Yes. It's really very simple. Just take my hand and," he quirked a smile, "leave the driving to me."

She was still suspicious…after all, this was the _creature._ His- _its_ -outer appearance was all a carefully crafted lie. But on the other hand, she'd been the one telling _him_ that there had to be some spark of humanity in him.

So here was the test of her convictions. _Put my money where my mouth is._

 _But where will my mouth be?_

Slowly, but with increasing speed and determination, she extended her hand…

He grasped it tightly, and she felt a tingling sensation as his alien flesh began to merge with hers. "This…this won't…I mean, I'll still be me, won't I?"

"Yes, Mary. You'll still be you. We'll just be sharing a body. Now here…just relax…" He quirked another smile. "Wondertwin powers, activate," he murmured.

"Huh?"

"Way before your time, Mary. I just always wanted to say that."

…

Tsunaron felt like screaming himself. They were literally between a rock and a hard place, between two monsters. But even in his fright, he still sought to get to Kay Em's body.

"Tsunaron, I swear if I had legs I'd kick your ass! _Leave the fucking body!_ " Janessa, Waylander and Kinsa were huddled over by the far wall, as far away from the two monsters as they could get. Between them, they were carrying the still semiconscious body of Jaxon. Tsunaron noticed that Kinsa was pulling him further away, even though he was too heavy for her. She wasn't about to leave him, even though she was obviously terrified. The others were desperately pulling the battery packs out of their useless gauss rifles, intending to duplicate her feat earlier…

…but on which one?

And then, Tsunaron heard something that made him doubt his sanity. He heard _Mary's voice_ , _emanating from somewhere inside the crab monster_. "Tsunaron! Get those battery packs ready to charge the corridor!" And the thing closed with Jason.

It was a savage battle, with no quarter given, both parties fighting in deadly silence. Jason sliced and hacked with his machete, but it glanced off the rounded corners of the heavily armored beast. The crab thing, in return, slammed its gigantic pincers into Jason's body again and again, actually managing to further dent his outer plating, knocking him back. The new Jason might be armored, but he still had internal organs made of flesh, and those could still be damaged by sufficient applied force. The thing grabbed his machete and wrenched it away, bending it double in the process. It grabbed Jason's arm, the one he'd previously been holding the machete with, and flung him back and forth, slamming him down onto the floor time after time, its greater mass giving it the edge. Then it grabbed Jason himself, lifting his whole body completely off the floor, twisting with its claws. Jason shoved outward with his arms, cracking the claws open with a sickening sound, and it dropped him. The claws mended themselves back together almost instantly, even as more sprouted, and the crab thing charged again.

"Wha—* _Mary?_ " Jax was just becoming conscious enough to see the pitched battle going on, heard her voice emanating from the monster. "Mary? Is, is that-*"

" _Never mind! Just do it! And hurry!"_

But Jason was still strong, still fighting. For all its size and obvious power, the crab monster couldn't seem to force him any closer to the booby-trapped corridor…

…and then it _changed,_ becoming an octopoidal creature, its many arms wrapping themselves around the cyborg killer. It lifted him up, bodily, and _slid,_ as though on a cushion of oil, towards the corridor. Jason struggled, but the rubbery embrace of the creature held. _"Now, Tsunaron! Jam it!"_

Tsunaron had ripped open a panel leading to the installed superconducting wires. With a fervent prayer, he shoved the two battery packs against the leads…

And the corridor came to life, its magnetic field lifting Jason up off the floor. The thing let go of him…

…and Jason slammed his hands against the opposite sides of the corridor, his own immense strength hauling him back, away from the airlock.

Suddenly, the octopoidal creature sprayed Jason and the corridor with a bluish-black slime. Jason lost his hold, the oily substance depriving him of his grip, and was carried down the corridor into the auxiliary airlock, which clanged shut.

Tsunaron desperately slammed Kay Em's head back onto her body. It wasn't a true reconnection, or even a good one, but… "Kay Em! Can you blow that lock?" They could already hear the killer pounding on the door of the airlock.

"Trying!" There was a _snap-crackle_ in the small space between Kay Em's head and her torso…

…and they heard the booming sound of the airlock's outer exit blowing off.

The lights flickered again, the slight charge from the battery packs already decreasing.

There was a moment when Tsunaron, Waylander, Janessa, Kinsa, and Jaxon stopped dead still. It was as though time had halted…

But the battle was far from over. Now they were confronted with the _other_ , the alien monster, and now, they had no weapons.

But the creature seemed to be struggling with itself. It shook, quivered, parts of it morphing and disappearing, only to reappear in other places…

 _{{Mary! What are you doing?}}_

 _{{What I have to do, professor. I'm sorry.}}_ And she began to force their conjoined body towards a life pod.

 _{{No, Mary, you don't want to do this. Listen to me.}}_

 _{{NO! I won't endanger my friends! I told you I was gonna save them, and I'm gonna._

 _{{Now I gotta save 'em from us. From me.}}_

 _{{Don't make me fight you, child.}}_

 _{{I've got you off-balance. I have to do this!}}_

 _{{No, Mary. I've waited five hundred years to get back home, and I'm not about to lose that now.}}_ And Mary could feel the professor's stronger nervous system reconfiguring, sizzling through her, shutting off her control….a kind of numbness spreading throughout her/their body…

" _Tsunaron! Get ready! As soon as I get him in the pod, blow it!"_

"Mary, is that _you?"_ He couldn't believe his ears. None of them could.

" _Never mind! JUST FREAKIN' DO IT!"_ And they watched as the monstrosity shoved its slimy bulk, seemingly reluctantly, into the nearby life pod.

Jax was just coming to full consciousness. The others were stunned, open-mouthed, at this turn of events. What was going on? "Mary?"

" _Forget about me, Jax! You've gotta do this! If you ever felt anything for me, blow this pod! I can't hold him for long!"_ Mary could feel the professor's strength, his greater power rapidly asserting control. In just a matter of moments, he'd be in full control of their mutual body. _"JUST FUCKING DO IT!"_

And suddenly, while they were still stunned, Rowan LaFontaine abruptly appeared, charging out from the doorway they'd just come down, and slapped the button.

There was a shudder and a rumble as the pod was ejected into space.

Rowan turned and looked at the others. Weaponless, they looked back.

 _The End_

 _?_

…..

Epilogue 1: The tug pulled the _Grendel_ into docking space around the space station. _"That was good thinking, using the shuttle's emergency comm unit,"_ said Major Vasquez. _"What went wrong?"_

Tsunaron sat back in the chair, utterly exhausted. He still hadn't let go of Kay Em's head. "Heh." What _hadn't_ gone wrong? It would be a much shorter list. "We…had a hitchhiker…and Jason. If you don't know about him, you'll have to look him up, but it turns out he wasn't quite as dead as everybody seemed to think. I've got a report prepared…but bottom line, I don't think this ship's going anywhere, not without a major overhaul. And I don't even know who to contact about that."

" _We can put a call through to the university. I'll see what can be done. What happened to Professor Lowe? What about Professor Stein?"_

"They…they're dead, I'm afraid. We…really, it's a long story." _A long, unbelievable story._ "It…it was Jason. He…killed them all. Would've killed us, too, except for…" He looked across at Jax, who was sitting across the room, his eyes fixed on empty space. "Anyway, I'm sending you the full report."

" _We'll be sending in security personnel to clear the ship. And you said you had wounded… So stand by. Is there anything else?"_

"Uh, yeah." He started to tell the major to be on guard for any life pods in the area, but then halted. What, exactly, would he say? How would he put that? "No, I mean, that's pretty much it."

" _Okay. We're coming aboard."_

Tsunaron switched off the comm. Looked over at Jax. "Jax? Buddy, you alright?" Even though he already knew the answer to that.

"No. I'm not." Pause, while his eyes still focused on nothing. Then he turned his haunted gaze on Tsunaron. "Tsunaron…she was _still alive._ She was _still in there._ It…it had consumed her, but…." Tears began to roll down his face; a good sign, thought Tsunaron. "But enough of her was left…that she saved us all. From both Jason _and_ the thing. How….how could….?" But he couldn't go on.

Rowan had helped them restore enough function to the shuttle's comm unit to signal the station. The others were still uneasy around her, and it wasn't lost on Tsunaron that Rowan had never actually been gene-tested. But on the other hand, when they were weaponless… Now she came over and put an arm around Jax. "Jax….just remember, okay? She _did_ come through, there at the end. I think she did it for love, Jax. Love for us all, but mostly, love for you."

"That doesn't make it any better."

"I know, Jax." She sat on the arm of his chair, and rubbed his back. "I know." The ship's autodocs, compromised as they were, had nonetheless managed to shut off the bleeding from his stump, and, as soon as he got Earthside, Tsunaron had promised him a regrown arm, or, if he so chose, maybe a full bionic one. He still hadn't decided.

Tsunaron cleared his throat, and the other two looked up. "You know…I don't know if…if this is maybe the right time to, to bring this up, but…" He turned to Kay Em's head, "I've already promised Kay Em a new body…."

"Just don't go making me _too_ top heavy! I wanna be able to see my own feet."

He looked at her head. "Now, why would you think I'd do a thing like that?" he asked, innocently.

"'Cause I saw the way you were ogling those freshmen students, that's why! _Especially_ the one with the humongous boo-*"

"Well, _any_ way…to get back to what I was going to say…Er. I…well, you know my old man's pretty well off, right?"

"He's in the military, isn't he?" Jax was intrigued, even through his haze of grief. He rubbed his hand over his face.

"Retired. But he…well, he knows some guys, let's just say. Some contacts he stayed in touch with." He looked at them, grimly. "This isn't the first time Earth's gotten it below the belt from something from _out there._ And…well, he was talking to me the other day about putting together a group to…deal with things like that. Sorta proactively."

"A group? What do you mean?"

"There's a term I heard once: _schattenjaegers._ Means 'shadow hunters,' in some old Earth language. A specialized strike team. Search and destroy. Black ops kinda thing."

Jax raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh? And?"

Tsunaron gestured to them all, including Rowan, a move that surprised even him. "Maybe together we could make it happen. Take the fight to these monsters, rather than let them just pay us a visit any old time they feel like it.

"'Cause it's like you said, Jax. There's too many rumors, legends, on Earth about creatures like these, for it to all be totally mythological. Maybe…maybe we can do something about that.

"What'd'ya say? Are you in?"

Jax looked up, a strange light in his eyes. No hesitation. "You know it, man. That _thing_ took Mary from me. I'll do whatever it takes to make it and others like it pay."

"Include me, too," said Rowan. "I know you guys don't trust me, but that gene test'll fix that. And…I've got some positively _wicked_ ideas."

"Count me in, too," said a voice from the door. They turned, surprised, to see a worn looking Kinsa standing there. "That monster killed the professor. If it's not dead….or if there's others like it…I wanna _personally_ make it _burn_."

"Alright, then." He still didn't totally trust Rowan, but, like she said, a gene test should cure that…if she was willing to undergo it. _That might be a test all by itself,_ he thought. "Then, we're agreed. I'll contact dad and the four of us-*"

" _Ahem_. Aren't you forgetting someone?" Kay Em's head glared up at him.

"Oh, right. Well, then, the _five_ of us will be the core group." He looked at them solemnly. "It won't be easy, guys. It'll be just like boot camp; we'll have to get in shape. But dad has access to…let's just say, _resources_ , that are normally not listed on any military's budget. _Experimental_ stuff. Cutting edge. Everybody okay with that?"

Jax was the first to stick out his only remaining hand. "I'm gonna make that monster pay." He was joined by Rowan and Kinsa, as they put out their hands over his.

"Hey! Don't forget about me!" Kay Em's head complained.

"Oh, right. Uh, here, Kay Em." And Tsunaron held her head close to their joined hands, close enough that she could stick her tongue out and touch the others.

With all their eyes, even Kay Em's, focused on their hands, no one chanced to see the tiny smirk on Rowan's face. Her eyes changed color, then changed back, and the smirk was quickly concealed.

….

Epilogue 2: Somewhere in space, between Earth II's moon and the planet, a life pod drifted. Within were two very unique individuals, though, at the time, any observers would have not been able to make that distinction.

 _{{I suppose you'll assimilate me now,}}_ said one of them, over their shared neural link.

 _{{No, Mary. In the first place, it's not quite that simple with beings like us. And secondly, no, I don't bear you any ill will.}}_ She could sense a sigh of resignation. _{{I suppose I'll just have to put off my plans to go home.}}_

 _{{But…but won't we both die? I mean, there's only a little food and water, and no way to direct this thing!}}_

 _{{We won't die, Mary. We will go into a kind of hibernation, though. You…might find that to be unpleasant.}}_

 _{{What's unpleasant about hibernation?}}_

 _{{The dreams.}}_

 _{{But,}}_ as something else occurred to her, _{{suppose we crash? We're probably within range of Earth II's gravity…we'll burn up!}}_

 _{{No, Mary, we won't. I'll show you how to spread your substance out, paper-thin, over thousands of square yards. If and when we hit atmosphere, we can simply swim on the air currents right down to the ground._

 _{{And that's assuming we even_ _want_ _to go planetside. I once spent several hundred years as an airborne lifeform on a gas giant circling a star far out in the Pleiades cluster. It was quite an exhilarating experience, actually.}}_

 _{{You…you don't hate me for, for…?}}_

Another sigh. _{{No, Mary, I don't. You're too much like your great-grandmother. I really can't blame you for being you.}}_

 _{{You're taking this awfully well.}}_

 _{{One of the advantages of being our sort of being, Mary. We're a bit more cerebral. You'll find you are vastly more intelligent now than your human colleagues were. That will increase as time goes by, and you get accustomed to being this way, the way we really are. And we aren't quite the slaves to our passions that humans are. So…there are advantages. Lots of advantages, actually.}}_

There was a pause, while the part of the combined being known as "Mary" thought that over. Passions… _{{I'll never see him again.}}_

 _{{No, child. But it's for the best. You do see that, don't you? Humans don't take very kindly to those who are different, even in the best of circumstances, and it would be hard to imagine you as being more different from him now. If you did meet again, he'd probably consider you a monster, and try to kill you. So, really, it's best if we have no more contact with the human race. At least, as ourselves._

 _{{Perhaps someday, we can meet with humans, as intelligent beings, and not be seen as monsters. But that day is not yet.}}_

Something occurred to her. _{{Professor? What about…before? How did you end up on Earth? What were you doing, I mean?}}_

 _{{I was an explorer, Mary. Our people periodically send out explorers to see what's out there, and bring that knowledge back to our collective.}}_ And, over that same shared neural link, Mary received a kaleidoscopic series of images of a mindboggling civilization barely comprehensible to her. Living beings the size of planets, all part of an incredible interconnected unit. Brains larger than Earth's moon, spread out over whole solar systems… _{{Same as humans, actually. We just go about it a bit differently.}}_

 _{{I can't get over how you're not angry with me.}}_

 _{{Well, I_ _was_ _a bit miffed, there, at first, but, looking back, it's exactly the sort of thing your great-grandmother would have done. So I've really no-one to blame but myself, for not seeing that coming.}}_

Another pause, on her part. Then, _{{Tell me about her.}}_

 _{{She was a graduate assistant at the college where I was teaching. It was my first year of full tenure as a professor of biology there…}}_

The life pod floated serenely through the empty night, its occupants completely unaware that there was something hanging on to one outer ridge…something wearing a battered hockey mask, its metallic exterior gleaming in the faint starlight…

….?


End file.
